More to It
by gilesc3
Summary: Takes place after Season 1 finale. Emily and Sasha's relationship quickly changes after the China meet as she works towards her dream of Olympian gold. First 11 chapters have been edited.
1. Chapter 1

AN: Okay so this is going to be a Sasha/Emily story. I got tired of waiting around to read something so I am making my own. I love this pairing, ever since "Run. Emily, Run". I think there was so much chemistry in that episode. Hope you enjoy. Read and Review please.

**Story is being edited. And I don't own anything related to MIOBI.**

It had been two days since the invitational, and two days since Damon left for his tour. Sasha had let the girls have the days after the meet off, but practice was back in full swing this morning.

Emily slammed her hand against the alarm, groaning as she slowly came back to consciousness. The red dials of her clock seemed to be as bright as the sun, shinning that it was only 4:00 in the morning. Emily rolled out of bed, yawning as she stretched and made her way to the bathroom, being careful to be quiet so as not to wake her mom or brother.

As she went about her morning routine, Emily couldn't help but wonder what Damon was doing and where he was. She was still upset that she hadn't been able to say goodbye to him, yet she knew that it was for the best. After Sasha found out she had a job, he may lose his head if he found out she also broke the no dating rule, and Emily didn't want to be kicked out of the Rock again.

And thinking of the Pizza Shack, Emily was scared that her family was going to end up evicted, as Chloe was a very unreliable source for rent. She no longer had the scholarship or her job, which paid for ¾ of the bills. Emily was worried that her mother was not going to be able to make this work out, like how she usually fell short.

Emily pulled her wet hair up into a ponytail before grabbing her gym bag and keys. She packed her leotard in her bag and was wearing sweats and a tank top with an over shirt, since she was going to have to walk to the Rock this morning. She checked her bag once more before leaving the house, locking up after herself.

Emily made it to the gym with ten minutes to spare before practice started. She moved to open the door, only to find it locked. She tried once again, thinking maybe she turned the handle wrong, but it still would not budge.

She furrowed her brow before looking around the parking lot, noticing that there were not any cars around. Peering over to Sasha's trailer, Emily noticed that there seemed to be a light on, when the man should have already been inside the gym.

She debated with herself if she should go knock or just stay outside until he decided to open the gym, but as it was still dark outside and she didn't feel comfortable being outside by herself, Emily slowly made her way over to his door.

She raised her hand to knock, than lowered it, than raised it again before once more lowering it. Emily had to admit, at least to herself, that she was nervous to disturb Sasha because, to be honesty, he scared her.

Well, he didn't scare her as in she thought he would hurt her or anything like that. But ever since the night he caught her, she had had this feeling that Sasha could do a lot of damage to her, emotionally.

She had never trusted anyone before, and the level of trust her coach demanded terrified her. She hadn't even trusted Damon, even though she did love him, she knew that she could never fully give her trust to him. Yet at the same time, she was forced to give all of her trust to Sasha, and Emily knew that she had never needed someone as much as she did him, which was terrifying.

Biting her lip and grasping her courage, Emily lightly knocked on the door. She waited, feeling an eerie sense of déjà vu standing there. The last time she had knocked on this door, she had to give up part of herself to the man on the other side. She was about to turn and just wait outside the door of the Rock when the door slowly swung open.

Sasha squinted at her, the light being behind him making it a little difficult to see Emily. She on the other hand, had a perfect view of him, the light shining behind him, enveloping him in an almost halo aspect. Emily's breath caught in her throat as she gazed upon the masculine perfection that was her coach.

Sasha only had on a pair of drawstring pants, leaving his well-developed chest bare and to Emily's viewing pleasure. His hair was rumpled and he reached up to rub his eyes before looking at her again.

"Is there a reason you're out here so early, Kmetko?" Sasha asked, frowning down at his gymnast. Emily swallowed before she raised an eyebrow at him, playing it cool.

"You told everyone we had practice again starting today. It's almost 5, which is when practice starts. Yet, I seem to be the only one here." Emily said, shrugging her shoulders. Sasha's frown at her deepened, which made the girl wonder if she had done something wrong.

"Didn't you get the text I sent out yesterday? Practice isn't scheduled until 6:30 this morning. I sent it yesterday afternoon so everyone would get it."

"Oh, I had to get my phone turned off. Well, can I go ahead and start warming up anyways, since I came all the way here?" Emily asked, dreading that he might make her walk all the way back to her apartment. Sasha rubbed his face before stepping back from the door.

"Come on inside. I need to talk to you anyways. Than I can open the gym for you." Sasha said, walking back into the trailer.

Emily's eyes widened, not sure if she should really follow him in or not. No one had been inside his little trailer, and she didn't want to overstep her bounds.

"Kmetko! Now!" Sasha yelled from inside. Emily gulped down the lump in her throat before stepping up into the little room. She looked around, seeing the tiny kitchenette and bench that she supposed she could sit at.

When she turned to sit at the small table, she saw the large bed, which since the square footage was so small, was very close to the bench, but still had a small walkway between to lead to a door that she guessed was the restroom.

She observed that the light she had seen early was a small lamp that was hooked onto the wall next to the bed, and that there was one of Sasha's mystery books lying among the messed up covers. Emily had to turn away from the sight of the bed as images of Sasha among those covers began to invade her mind, causing her cheeks to flush crimson.

She had just sat down at the table, facing the sink, the opposite way of the bed, when Sasha came out of the small bathroom, dressed in jeans and a nice white sweater. Emily looked down at her hands as he went about putting water for tea on to boil. She fought an internal battle with herself to stop noticing things that a gymnast should not be noticing about her coach.

"Okay Emily, I can give you the good news or I can give you the bad news. Which one do you want to hear first?" Sasha asked, sitting across from her and crossing his arms over his chest, making his arms bulge against the white fabric.

Emily bit her lip, not sure if she could really win in this question. Any bad news coming from Sasha usually meant consequences for her. She decided that she would rather absorb and process the good news and savior it before being pulled back down by the bad.

"Um, the good news first, I guess." Emily mumbled, afraid to raise her eyes to meet his. She knew that even as he was telling her 'good news', his eyes, which were always a piercing green, would show her the level of his disappointment about the bad news.

"Well, as Summer has moved onto another job, Kim Keeler has agreed to come back to managing the gym. And for the past two days, she and I have been working hard to help you and your family out. I know that now you do not have your scholarship, and you better have quite making pies…" Sasha trailed off, eyeing her.

"Oh yes, I quit the day after you found me. I promise." Emily said quickly, raising her gaze to meet his, hoping he would believe her. His eyes narrowed at her for a moment, before he seemed to accept her answer.

"Well, because of your problems, I promised you I would help you. As I would have done in the beginning, if you would have just told me the truth." Sasha said, his voice a verbal slap. Emily flinched, hating that she had disappointed him so much.

"Anyway, Kim and I have been able to find a solution for you. We've found a couple companies that are willing to have you endorse them and sponsor you. They're not many, nowhere near as many as Kaylie, but they are willing to pay you nicely. And one of those companies is a leotard manufacture, so they will be sending you an entire collection of practice leos for you to wear. The only thing you have to do is name them in interviews and such." Sasha trailed off, leaving Emily to process what he had said.

"My gosh, you mean…we're actually going to have money? And I won't have to quit the Rock?" Emily asked, her eyes large as she gazed at him in amazement. Sasha clenched his fists, trying not to notice the awed look in her eyes.

"Yes, that is what I mean. There will be no need for you to have a job, because the sponsorships will be paying three times what you were making with the scholarship and the job. Which means that I am expecting you to dedicate the time you would have been working to training. I want you to increase your DoD on every apparatus."

"Okay, no problem, Sasha! I will train however long you want me to. Oh, I can't believe this. Thank you so much!" Emily gushed, wishing she could hug him.

She had never been able to just train. She had always had to have a job, since her mother could not usually hold onto one long enough to pay the bills. She did a small victory dance in her seat, not caring that Sasha was probably silently laughing at her.

"Yes, well, that was the good news. Now for the bad news. Kmetko, do you think I live under a rock?" Sasha asked, clasping his hands on the top of the table. Emily's smile fell away as a look of confusion took its place.

"Um, is this a trick question?"

"No, just a very simple one. Do you think I do not listen to the radio? Do you think I am too old for such things?"

"What? No, you're not old. Why would you even ask…" Emily trailed off, catching the 'radio' part of his question. Sasha quirked a brow at her, egging her to continue. She dropped her gaze, starring at the fake wood grain of the table.

"Well, since you don't think I'm too old to listen to the radio, you can imagine my surprise when I'm scanning through stations after the invitational, trying to relax, and what do I come upon but a boy professing his love for one Emily Kmetko. So shocked was I that I left the dial on that station, and learned that your love was what allowed him to win this contest and sing to the world.

"I can tell you, a thousand thoughts went through my head. I couldn't believe that the girl was the same one that promised me that she would never lie to me again. Or that she would not break anymore rules. And yet, here we are, the very same girl." Sasha said, his voices dripping with anger and disappointment.

Emily cringed at every word, wishing the earth would open up and swallow her. That would have been easier than having to face her royally pissed offed coach. She picked at the table, refusing to lift her head, until Sasha slammed his hand down on hers, making her quickly look up.

"Are you not going to say anything? Not going to try and deny or cover it up? Not going to try to lie to me once again?" Sasha said between clenched teeth. Emily was about to say something when there was a loud shrieking whistle coming from the tea kettle. She thought she had been saved, but Sasha merely reached over and turned the burner off, never taking his eyes off of her.

"Sasha, I'm sorry. I know…I seem to be saying that a lot. But…I broke it off with him the night at the Pizza Shack. And I never meant to break that rule. I usually don't stay in a place long enough to have a relationship. It's over, completely, and he left for a European tour, so it's not like he's here." Emily said, hoping that Sasha would just let this go. But she knew her coach, and he would not heed to her wishes.

"I'm so disappointed in you, Kmetko. I thought after what happened with Carter Anderson you would have learned that I do not put up with people breaking the rules. You're lucky you did so well against China and that I know you can be an amazing gymnast, because I'm very close to kicking you out. This time permanently. I cannot believe that you would lie to me once again."

"God, please Sasha. It won't happen again. I just want to train. That's all. I won't let you down again. And I'll even sleep in the gym if you want me to. I want to sleep, breath, and bleed gymnastics. Just like you said. Please just give me that shot!" Emily said, grabbing the hand that was on top of hers with her other hand and holding it tight. Sasha watched her, seeming to gage whether she was finally being truthful with him or not.

"I will only give you this last chance Emily. Do you understand? Anymore rule breaking and I will put you out. Do you get me?" Sasha asked. Emily nodded vigorously, squeezing his hand tightly.

"I understand, Sasha. And I won't let you down again. I don't think I could handle it if I disappointed you anymore." Emily said, her voice trailing off into a whisper.

"Good, now I'll go open the gym and you can begin your punishment for lying to me." Sasha said, rising to grab a thermos and transfer the hot water into before adding the tea bags. Emily groaned inwardly at what his punishment could be like, but knew better than to make her reluctance known.

Emily followed her coach over to the Rock, where he quickly let them in before relocking the doors. She was headed to the bathroom to change when Sasha stopped her.

"You won't need to change. What you have on will suffice for punishment. To begin, I want you to do 15 rope climbs in 10 minutes. You can start now." Sasha said, pointing to the ropes hanging from the ceiling.

Emily sighed inwardly, knowing that today was going to be completely brutal. She knew that Sasha was going to let his displeasure with her known, and if Emily were to guess, she would assume that she would not be doing any training for a while.

Emily sat her bag down next to a mat before stripping off her over shirt and shoes. She glanced back at Sasha, who was walking up to the office. She sighed again before heading over to the ropes, hoping that this punishment would end quickly.


	2. Chapter 2

AN: Thanks for the reviews. I am hopefully going to try to post a new chapter regularly. Okay so I am going to let you glimpse into the other girl's minds, but it is still going to be majorly Emily and Sasha that do the thinking. Oh and I am putting vending machines (with granola bars and fruit, etc) into the gym because, honestly, the gymnasts have to eat several times a day for all the calories they burn. And they don't show that on the show. Hope you enjoy.

**Chapter edited. **

Emily wiped sweat from her eyes as she lowered herself from the beam. Sasha had made her balance on the damn contraption with just her arms for the past ten minutes and Emily thought they were going to fall off.

She was just about to call up to him to see if she was done with her 'punishment' when Payson came through the doors. Emily smiled at her friend, glad that after the meet Payson was ready to start training again.

"Hey Payson. You're here a little early. Ready to start working hard again?" Emily asked, grabbing her water bottle to take a deep gulp from. Payson smiled before setting her things down and removing her jacket and pants.

"Yea, I'm pumped to get started. Now that I know I can get on bars again without freaking out, it's been all I could do not to come during the off days." Payson said, walking over to a warm-up mat to start stretching.

"Yeah, I bet. So how was your break?" Emily asked, grabbing a hand towel to get the sweat off her body.

"It was good. My dad came back for a day so the family was able to hang out. Hey, why are you here?" Payson asked, looking up as she stretched into a split.

"Oh I-" Emily was cut off when Sasha poked his head out of the office.

"Did I tell you that you were finished, Kmetko? I want you to do 30 pull ups on the rings. Now!" Sasha bellowed. Emily winced before scurrying off to do as her dictator commanded.

Payson's eyes widened as she saw the heavy sweat stain in Emily's tank top, proving that she had apparently been at this for a while. The blonde wondered what Emily had done to seriously piss Sasha off.

Emily glared at the rings before pulling herself up. She hated, absolutely hated, pull ups. Which was weird, since she had to swing herself over a bar, but it didn't change the fact that she hated pull ups. (an: that's a personal hatred)

Payson finished her stretching and was chalking up when the gym began to fill with the other gymnasts. Kaylie walked in, her cell in hand and the other girl had to force herself not to roll her eyes. She finished chalking before approaching the bars, this time not afraid as she jumped to swing around the short one before releasing into the higher bar.

Kaylie sighed as she dumped her things, removing her outerwear before going to stretch. She hadn't heard from Carter at all and she didn't know what that meant. She knew that she should just let it go and get over him, but she knew that she loved him and that she wanted him back. Kaylie watched the door as she stretched, wanting to question Carter as soon as he arrived. She was so preoccupied that she didn't even see Lauren sit down next to her.

"Hey Kay, how's it going?" Lauren asked, not sure what she was supposed to say. She couldn't get Carter's kiss out of her mind, but she knew that she couldn't lose Kaylie again. Lauren knew that she didn't have enough friends to be losing any, and Kaylie was her BFF. She bit her lip as she contemplated what she was going to do.

"God awful. I called Carter after we talked, but he didn't answer and didn't come to my room. I haven't spoken to him at all over the last few days. I just don't know what is going on!" Kaylie said in frustration. Lauren nodded, keeping her head down, as she didn't want anything to show on her face.

"I'm sure there's an explanation. You can ask him when he gets here."

"You're right. Sorry for venting. Hey, why in the world is Emily doing pull-ups?" Kaylie asked, watching as Emily did another, than another pull-up on rings before dropping down to her feet.

"I have no idea. Oh, look at that sweat stain. EW! She isn't even wearing a leo right now. So gross." Lauren scrunched up her nose. Kaylie crossed her arms and starred at her.

"I thought you were past being mean to her."

"Oh I am. It's just nasty!" Lauren said, for the first time actually believing herself. She knew that Emily wasn't going anywhere, and after the meet with China, she believed that the girl belonged here. Lauren just couldn't get over Emily's lack of fashion or that, apparently, her dad didn't care about what she thought and was once again dating Chloe Kmetko.

"Good. Hey look, I wonder what she's talking to Sasha about." Kaylie said, nodding over to where Sasha and Emily were speaking on the stairs.

"I dunno. I'm going to go chalk up."

Emily jogged over to the office, where Sasha was leaning over the rail, watching as the gymnasts began to warm-up. He looked down at her as she approached and cocked his head to the side, signaling that he wanted to talk to her. Emily walked around to the stairs, where he met her half way down.

"How are you feeling? Do you think you've had enough punishment for lying to me?" Sasha asked, glaring at her. Emily bit her lips and wiped a hand across her face, trying to remove some of the sweat.

"I'm fine. And I've only done enough punishment if you think I've done enough, Coach." Emily said, knowing that his question could have gotten her into more trouble. She really just wanted to take a shower and sit down for five minutes and let her screaming muscles relax.

It was weird that she could train for 9-10 hours a day and her body sang, but give her two hours of brutal exercise (really torture!) and she just wanted to soak in a nice warm bath.

She didn't express any of this though, because she didn't want Sasha to know that he was really pushing her to her limit. She knew that if he knew that, he'd still push to see how far she would go before breaking.

Sasha watched her as she gave her answer. He was hoping she would assure him that he had punished her enough. He hated to admit it, but the fact that she would be willing to take even more was very courageous. He could see the pain in her eyes and knew how her body was probably feeling, but he admired her willingness to do whatever he said. Sasha supposed that she was trying to make up for the disappointment he had felt and was prepared to do whatever it took to gain his trust back.

"Good answer, Emily. But you can go shower and dress for practice. But I want you to take it easy today, okay. I know I pushed you and I don't want you to strain a muscle. But starting tomorrow, I want you to advance to a double twist in your yurchenko."

"Okay, sure thing. Thanks Sasha." Emily said, giving him a small smile before heading off to the locker room. She turned to look back before turning the corner and saw he was watching her. She smiled again before heading in to wash off.

Sasha shook his head, trying to get the image of Emily's smile out of his mind. He needed to stop feeling what he was. It was very inappropriate and he would not cross that line. He was about to move on to the floor when Carter came through the doors and headed straight to him.

"What can I do for you today, Mr. Anderson?"

"I wanted to speak with you. Coach. I'm moving with my father to Boston and will be transferring gyms. I just wanted to let you know since I can't come to practice today." Carter said, not daring to look out to the floor and to Kaylie and Lauren. Sasha's eyebrows rose before he scratched his chin.

"This wouldn't have anything to do with one of my girls, would it?" Sasha asked, watching Carter closely.

"No sir. My dad just got a higher paying position stationed out of Boston. And I think its time for me to move on." Carter said. Sasha knew he was lying, but if this meant that there would be one less distraction for his girls, than he was all for it.

"Okay, I will have Mrs. Keeler send over your file to your new gym once you supply the name of the gym. I hope you have success at your other gym." Sasha said, offering his hand for a shake. Carter smiled and shook his hand before darting out of the gym. Sasha watched as both Lauren and Kaylie frowned and began whispering.

"I suggest you get back to work!" Sasha yelled, walking over towards the balance beam. Kaylie and Lauren quickly moved onto different apparatuses, not wanting to catch his wrath. From Emily's punishment, Sasha was in no mood to anger today.

Kaylie moved to work on her floor routine while Lauren started to do her vault. Sasha helped fix some problems with the gymnast on beam before moving over to bars, where Payson was swinging.

"Looking good, Payson. I want to you slowly push yourself further each day. But I don't want to see you go from a level B to D in one go. Do you understand? Do it gradually." Sasha said, making sure to make eye contact with her.

Payson nodded, squashing the impulse to tell him she could skip straight to level E skills. She knew that she would not get anywhere with him and that she should just do what he told her.

"I understand, Coach. I'll work slowly so that I can build back up to my previous level and then beyond it." Payson said. Sasha nodded before heading up to the office to finish some paperwork.

Emily sighed as the hot water cascaded down her sore body, soothing the tensed muscles. She ran her hands into her hair, glad that she had shampoo and soap in her bag. She lathered up her hair before moving to massage her body wash into her skin. Wincing as she pressed too hard down on the worked muscles of her arms, Emily wished she had some Bengay or IcyHot.

The gymnast closed her eyes and began trying to picture adding another half twist to her yurchenko. She knew that Sasha wanted her DoD to increase, but she was worried about increasing it too fast. She just landed the 1 and ½ a week ago, yet now he wanted to push her even farther.

But Emily realized that she trusted Sasha completely, and if he believed she could do it, she would. It would take a lot of practice, but she was confident that she could do anything he thought she could. Sasha Belov would not waste his time if such a trick was out of her reach, that Emily as sure of.

As her thoughts turned to her coach, Emily let out another sigh as a light tingle began to work its way from her toes up through her legs. She didn't know if it was from her workout or what, as she'd never felt anything like it before. Emily's mind turned to the way Sasha's smile made her heart beat a little too fast, and the way her skin seemed to burn when he touched her while correcting her stance.

Emily ran her hand down her body, her fingers lightly skimming her breast while she washed the soap off. She was surprised when she felt her stomach tighten as her hand passed over a breast.

She furrowed her brow and did it again, with the same result. Emily's eyes widened when she felt a pulsing low in her body, a part of her that had never had this reaction to anything before.

"Oh boy. This is not good, Kmetko." Emily mumbled to herself. She quickly washed off, trying not to touch any other part of her body that would make the pulsing increase. She tried to get her mind away from Sasha, yet every time she thought of him, another pulse would ripple through her neither regions, causing her stomach to flex.

Emily quickly dried off and began dressing before pulling her hair up into a ponytail. She stared at herself in the mirror, seeing that her face was flushed and her eyes were almost glassy. She frowned at herself before walking out of the bathroom, trying to think of anything but Sasha. Yet the more she tried not to think of him, the more he popped up in her mind.

She walked to the vending machine and grabbed a granola bar before sitting down next to her bag, putting her used clothes back into it. She had just unwrapped her snack when one of the trainers walked over.

"Sasha said he wanted to see you in his office." He said before walking off. Emily groaned before rising, keeping the bar in her hand. Hopefully she could nibble on it before she got to the office, since she wasn't sure if Sasha would let her have a break to eat it or not. Emily slowly made her way over to the office, and proceeded up the stairs. She was surprised to find Lauren and Kaylie both already in the office.

"Glad you could join us, Kmetko. Please have a seat." Sasha said. She grabbed a chair and sat next to Kaylie, wondering what was going on. Sasha finished writing in a file before setting it down and looking at them.

"I have learned that the next Nationals' practice is going to be in two weeks. They are gathering the group that is going to go to Rome to compete against the Italians. Now I wanted to speak with all of you because I am concerned with what Ellen Beals or other members of the National Committee might try to pull.

"As long as you blow the practice out of the water, there should be no reason for them to not allow all of you to go. I have reread your contracts to be on the National Team, and the meet we had against China was allowed. If the committee members try to call you out, tell them that you know you are allowed to perform in meets hosted by your gym.

"Another rule that I have looked into is the dating rule. It is not a standard Nationals has, so it is purely a Rock rule. Now, before you try to deny it, I know that all three of you have broken this rule. Yes Kaylie, I know about you and Carter as well as Lauren and Carter. Which brings me to tell you that Carter is moving to Boston and will no longer be at the Rock." Sasha said.

Kaylie and Lauren looked at each, both shocked and not knowing what to say. This was the first they were hearing of Carter moving, and Kaylie couldn't believe that Sasha had known about her relationship. She swallowed, not meeting his gaze, instead starring down at her hands.

"Now that you all have no boys to distract you, I am going to be pushing you. I want each of you to increase you degree of difficulty (DoD) on each apparatus. I want you to strive for gold on each one, and really work on your difficulty areas.

"Emily, you are going to learn more moves for floor and beam. Lauren, floor and vault are going to be your areas. Kaylie, bars and vault are going to be yours. These areas are the ones I want you to spend the most time on before the National Team practice.

"But I still want you to work on the other two areas as well. But you have all done so well in the others that it will not take you much to beat out the other National team members. Now are there any questions? No, good. I want to see you begin practice tomorrow. I want each of you to focus today on the areas you're already good at and fine tune them. Get to work." Sasha said, dismissing them. He raised an eyebrow at Emily, who had stayed planted in her seat.

Lauren and Kaylie looked back at Emily, not sure why she was still sitting. But the look on her face told them that they did not want to be anywhere near her when the rage that was evident took hold. They quickly descended the stairs, but by silent consent, stayed where they could see through the office windows.

"Can I do something for you, Kmetko?" Sasha asked, peering back down at the file on his desk.

He didn't want to look at her because he could see her body was flushing, as it had been since she walked in the room, and even though it was not cold in the office, her nipples seemed to be very hard. Also, he noticed the fire that had appeared in her eyes at the beginning of the meeting, and he didn't want to let her see what it was doing to him.

Emily took a deep breath, trying to rein in her temper. She just couldn't believe what she had just heard. She seriously wanted to punch him in the face, or slap him, or something. Emily's hands clenched into fists in her lap as she resisted the temptation to do just that.

"I'm sorry _Sasha_, I'm just trying to process that you knew, _knew _about Kaylie and Carter. You KNEW and yet she wasn't punished. Do you know how much my body hurts right now? Huh? I cannot believe you punished only me when you already knew about them!" Emily said, her voice rising with each word. Sasha stared at her, not used to seeing this side of his gymnast.

"How I handle things with my gymnasts is no business of yours, Kmetko. Now go train." He said, standing to exit the room. Emily quickly stood from her seat, but she moved to block him.

"No, Sasha. I want an answer. I was punished, severely, for TWO hours for a relationship that only lasted a couple of months. Yet one that lasted a whole year gets nothing. NOTHING! And then you didn't do anything to Lauren either! GOD! Why was I put through that? Why?" Emily yelled, crossing her arms over her chest and not allowing Sasha to move past her.

Sasha ground his teeth, not liking the way she was treating him. He was her coach, and that demanded respect. He reached behind her to close the door, not wanting the other gymnasts, all of whom had stopped practicing to watch the confrontation, to be able to hear or see anything else.

"Kmetko, you do not speak to me like this. I should discipline you more for having the gall to do it. But I won't. And the reason I didn't punish the others is because they didn't lie to me. Ya, they broke the rules, but they didn't lie to me after promising me that they would never do so again. Do you even realize how difficult it was to gain your trust, and in turn give you mine? But you have just continuously broken that trust, so I had to find a way that would forever remind you that you shouldn't break it.

"Contrary to popular belief, I don't get off on other people's pain. I put you through that workout so that every time you thought of lying to me again, you would think of this day and rethink your decision." Sasha said, lowering his voice so that only Emily could hear him.

Emily's face was still red and her head was still buzzing, but her entire focus had shifted with Sasha's words. The thought of him "getting off" sent a thrill through her that restarted that curious pulsing in her groin.

She sucked in a deep breath, trying to concentrate on why she was mad. But the way she had positioned herself to stop him, Sasha was extremely close to her and she could smell his cologne and feel the heat radiating off his body.

Sasha, for his part, really needed Emily to move. He was ashamed to admit that his body was reacting as if his was going through puberty again. He shifted a little, being able to draw his body away from hers.

He didn't want to look down, for those pebbles he had noticed earlier were very enticing, and he didn't want to look into her eyes, which had gone a smoky green with what he knew as lust.

"Emily, I think it best if you go train now." Sasha's voice was soft, the accent washing over her like a caress. She sighed and nodded, trying to form words. But her tongue seemed to be tied in knots, not allowing her to say anything. She looked at him again before dashing out of the room.

Sasha sighed with relief before turning to sit at his desk. He tried to get comfortable, but the bulge that had appeared did not seem to want to be ignored. He growled in frustration before grabbing a file and flipping it open, determined to overrule his body.

Emily refused to speak to any of the girls about what had gone on in the office. She put all of her concentration into her vault, trying to add the extra ½ twist to make it a full yurchenko. She did not speak to Sasha again and left the gym with the others, not looking back.


	3. Chapter 3

AN: Thanks for the reviews. I am sorry that it has taken me longer to post this next chapter. My sister is getting ready to have her baby so it's been kinda crazy. Hope you enjoy.

**Chapter edited.**

Emily stared around the emptying parking lot, wondering where her mother was. She knew what time practice got out, yet Chloe still seemed to forget about her daughter. Emily sighed before pulling her jacket out of her gym bag. She shrugged it on before starting the trek back home. Emily found it weird that she was doing the exact opposite of what she did in the morning.

She pushed her hands into her pockets as she began the long walk, thinking that she couldn't believe all that had changed in a single day. Sasha had managed to get her endorsements and sponsorships, which meant she wouldn't have to worry about money any longer. She couldn't wait to tell her mother and brother. Maybe she could even get her cell turned back on. That would be great, especially if Sasha rescheduled any more practices.

The girl sighed in relief when she reached her building, thankful that she was finally home. After the workout Sasha put her through, and then practice, she could use a warm bath and her bed. She went into the apartment, ready to put her plan into action when Brian stopped her.

"You got a package in the mail." He said, nodding to the box that was next to the door. Emily closed the door behind her before lifting the box to carry it to the dining room table. She wondered if it could be possible that her new leotards from her sponsor company had already come in. It had only been two days since the invitational.

Cutting through the tape and into the box, Emily was surprised to see not only leotards in the box, but also make-up and jackets that matched the leos. She pulled out a sequenced blue tank-leo and smiled at the design.

"So why did you get that box of new clothes?" Brian asked, wheeling over to peer into the box's depths. Emily smiled at her brother before explaining how Sasha had been able to get her the sponsorships. Brian was glad that something seemed to be finally going well for his sister, since he knew how hard she worked at achieving her dream.

"Look, there's an envelope at the bottom." Brian said, reaching in to retrieve it. He handed it off to Emily, waiting to see what more there could possibly be. Emily ripped open the envelope and unfolded a letter that was addressed to her, explaining about the endorsements and the procedures she would need to follow to keep them. Emily was just about to shut the box up when she saw a second envelope, which she was thrilled to find held a check for her.

"Wow, Emily. That's a lot of money. And they just gave it to you?" Brian asked, astonished that people would give away that amount of money.

"Well, I have to give their names in interviews and stuff. But yea, basically. Do you know what this means? It means that we don't have to worry anymore, Brian. Can you believe that? My whole life I've had to work and now I can focus solely on gymnastics. I'm so excited!" Emily said, doing a little twirl around the dining room and into the living room. Brian laughed with his sister, enjoying seeing her so carefree for the first time.

"That's great, Emily. I'm so proud of you and you deserve it." Emily smiled before leaning over to give him a hug.

"Thanks, Brian. I'm going to go soak in the tub before taking a nap. I am so tired." Emily said, walking over to her 'room' to grab her robe. She grabbed a towel from the closet than closed herself into the bathroom, where she started to run a steaming bath. After adding some of her mother's bubble bath, she undressed, wincing as her muscles strained and pulled.

She rolled her muscles before easing down into the bubbly water, sighing in contentment as the water rushed over her body. She shut off the water before easing back, closing her eyes and relaxing into the heat.

Kaylie wandered around her house, confused and upset. She couldn't believe that Carter was just leaving. And he hadn't come to her room the other night, and now he was leaving. Kaylie didn't know what to think and she really needed to talk to him. Yet he wasn't returning her texts. She sighed before sitting down in front of the TV, flipping through the channels while she tried to think of something other than Carter.

Lauren rushed through her house, dropping her things as she went. She made her way to the garage apartment, hoping she would find Carter there. Lauren burst through the door, and had to rein in her tears when she didn't find anyone. She walked around the room, noticing that it looked exactly as it had before Carter had lived there. Sitting on the bed, Lauren tried not to let the urge to cry overwhelm her.

She couldn't believe that after everything, and the kiss that they shared the other night, that Carter was just leaving. Lauren had thought that they shared something and that someone had finally chosen her for something.

"Lauren, I need to talk to you." Carter's voice jerked her head up until she locked eyes with him. Cater was standing in the doorway, much like the other night. Yet, she knew he wasn't going to come kiss her like he had. She whipped at her eyes, hoping it didn't look like she was close to crying.

"Yea sure, about what?" She asked nonchalantly, not meeting his eyes. Carter sighed before coming to sit next to her on the bed.

"Lauren, I know that you're upset I'm leaving. I just needed to tell you that I'm sorry. I didn't plan the move, but I think it came at a good time. My dad has decided that since he's moving to a new area, I too could move and live with him again. I just…I did…do feel something for you. And I chose you over Kaylie, you have to know that.

"But I can also see what this would do to your friendship, and I've seen what not having that friendship did to you and her. And I care about both of you, and I don't want to be the reason for you once again not being friends anymore. I want you to have your best friend back with no guy to get between you. I don't feel right about putting that friendship at risk, so to eliminate the problem, I'm moving. To Boston, where I can do gymnastics at a good gym.

"I just wanted to tell this to you face to face so you'd know that I do care for you and hope that one day maybe we'll bump into each other again." Carter said, grabbing her hand with his to hold. Lauren sniffed, hating herself for being weak enough to cry.

"I can't believe you're leaving. I just got you and now you're going away. That's not fair Carter!" Lauren said, shooting up from the bed. If he was going to leave her than she was not going to hold his hand or ease the guilt that he obviously felt. She wanted to hurt him the way he was hurting her.

"Lauren, I know what I'm doing is not fair to you. I don't want to hurt you, I don't. I want to stay here and be with you, but the problems that me staying here would cause would be bad for your friendship with Kaylie. And I can't stand to see you go through that again." Carter said, grasping her hand. Lauren starred at him, not sure what to believe.

"But you could still stay. And we could just be…I don't know, a secret." Lauren said, her eyes begging him to go along with her. Carter shook his head, leaning in to lightly kiss her.

"I don't want another relationship like the one I had with Kaylie. I'm sorry Lauren, and I hope one day we will meet again, but for right now, I need to go focus on my gymnastics, as you do." Carter said, rising before walking out the door.

Lauren swallowed around the large lump in her throat, trying to fight the tears. Just when she got the guy, he left. How did that make life fair? Lauren curled up on the bed before finally letting her anguish overtake her.

Sasha closed down the gym, making sure to lock the doors before he headed over to his trailer. He massaged his neck while he walked, all the tension of the day resting on those muscles. He had so much he still had to do, like get the girls trained well enough that there would be no reason whatsoever for them not going to Rome. And fighting the feelings that had begun to spring up in him towards one Emily Kmetko.

He let himself into his home before starting the kettle, needing a cup of tea and a book to sooth his nerves. Sasha couldn't believe he was coveting one of his gymnasts. An underage gymnast at that.

He had never crossed the line before, never had he had feelings that would prompt him to cross that line. He was a professional, and yet every time he was around her, all he could think about is what it would feel like to have that lithe body wrapped around his.

Sasha groaned in frustration when he felt himself begin to harden by the mere thought of Emily. He was ashamed that his body was reacting as if he was still a teen, hardening at any given time. He hoped dearly that it never happened when he was on the floor. That would take explaining that he was not sure he could do.

Sasha removed the water from the burner, no longer in the mood for tea. After pouring the water out he headed to the bathroom, where he started a hot shower. After stripping down and stepping in, he let his mind wander, and was not surprised when it strayed to a picture of Emily doing a round-off on the floor.

He let the water cascade down his face and body as he felt himself growing hard. Another picture of Emily, this time the look she gave him every time she landed something new, came to mind.

Sasha groaned as his hand trailed down his body, pictures of Emily flashing through his mind in rapid succession. Sasha gripped himself, slowly working himself closer to the edge.

Sasha gripped himself firmer as he recalled what it felt like when she hugged him. Or the fire in her eye today when she was arguing with him. He had noticed her nipples had been erect and her face flushed, which turned him on more.

The picture that finally sent him over the edge was of the look she had given him when she first entered the office, her eyes heavy with lust and her body pulsating. He groaned as his body released, glad that he had worked off the tension.

But as soon as he had calmed down, the thoughts of how wrong his feelings were came souring back. He needed to keep them in check and try to rid himself of them.

Sasha turned off the shower and dried off before falling into his bed, not bothering to even get into clothes. He sighed before pulling the blanket over himself and reached out to turn the light out, hoping to have a night with no dreams.


	4. Chapter 4

AN: Hey guys. I'm so sorry it has taken so long. I have been working 30 hours a week and trying to do my English class and get ready for my trip to Boston. But I'm so excited that people seem to like my story. Please review and let me know what you are thinking.

**Chapter edited.**

Emily stared into her makeshift closet, not sure what to wear. She was filled with a weird exhilaration because she had never been in this predicament. She actually had a choice of leotards to wear for practice, and she couldn't decide on one.

Emily pulled out a sparkling blue one, than put it back in exchange for a black one with a white flower. She furrowed her brow before putting that one back as well before deciding on a deep burgundy leo that had a black swirling design across the side and front.

Satisfied with her selection, Emily finished drying off before changing into the new leo. She was surprised to notice that it felt like a competition leo, the fabric soft and obviously expensive. Her practice leotards were off-the-shelf and left her skin itchy, while this material seemed to just flow over her body. Emily pulled on sweats and an over shirt and jacket before going to see if her mother was ready.

Chloe Kmetko smiled at herself in the mirror, hoping she would run into Steve at the gym. She combed through her hair again before stepping out of the bathroom, where she and her daughter almost collided.

"Mom, are you ready? Practice is going to start soon and I don't want to have Sasha mad at me again." Emily said, stepping to the side to avoid running into her mother. Chloe steadied herself by grasping the back of the couch.

"Yep, I'm ready. Well…do you think I look ok?" Chloe asked, worried that she may have overdone it. Emily raised her eyebrows at her mom, not sure how to answer.

Chloe never asked for Emily's opinion on wardrobe, probably because Emily thought her mother always over did it. But she could see the uncertainty in her eyes, and Emily knew that Chloe was worried about what Steve Tanner would think.

"You look great mom. Mr. Tanner won't be able to keep his eyes off you. But please mom, nothing in public. I don't think I could handle that." Emily said, grabbing her gym bag. Chloe smiled before picking up her purse, heading towards the door.

"So have you heard from Damon lately?"

"No mom. And I can't talk to him anymore anyways. Sasha heard the radio broadcast and threatened that if anything more like that happened, he would kick me out of the gym. He made me practice….well it was more a punishment that lasted two hours. My muscles still ache this morning from it. I'm not willing to through my dreams away for a boy that is off on a European tour." Emily said, closing the door behind her.

"Aw I'm sorry baby. That must be hard, because I know you cared for him. But Sasha's right, you should be focusing on gymnastics now." Chloe said, unlocking the car doors before getting in behind the wheel.

"So did Sasha tell you what you have to do for all this sponsorship money? Oh, maybe you have to do pictures or something. Hey, maybe we could get you your own car. And we can go shopping and get you some new clothes. What do you think about that?" Chloe asked; her eyes bright with the thought of shopping with her daughter.

"I think we should get all the bills paid before we start spending the money." Emily said, looking out the window so she wouldn't have to see her mother deflate. The rest of the ride to the Rock was done in silence and Emily tried to ignore the hurt that she could feel radiating off her mom.

Kaylie sighed as she checked her phone once more. She thought that Carter would have texted her again, but besides the one where he said goodbye, there was nothing. She didn't know what to feel or think. _'I guess Carter really is over me'_ she thought. Kaylie sighed before entering the gym, trying to focus on practice.

Sasha wanted to increase her routines, even though she just beat China's best. Kaylie didn't know why he was pushing them so hard, since they did so well against China. She guessed that he wanted to make sure that the National Committee could come up with no reason not to take them to Rome.

Kaylie smiled at Payson who came over to begin her stretching.

"So can you believe the fit Emily threw yesterday? I can't. I've never heard anyone speak to Sasha that way. And did you see them after she came down to practice. You would have thought they were going to hit each other."

Kaylie asked, stretching her arms over her head. Payson sighed, knowing that gossip was just a part of being a girl. But she really wished she could get through one practice without having to listen to Kaylie or Lauren go on about something that she didn't have the slightest interest in knowing or discussing.

"Yea, I've never seen Emily so mad. I didn't know she could look so threatening. I mean, it was a 100 lb. girl against Sasha." Payson said, pulling her legs apart into a split. Kaylie was about to respond when Lauren plopped down next to them.

"Oh my gosh! Have you seen Sasha this morning? I just saw him outside his trailer and he looks exhausted. I wonder if he'll go easy on us. Oooo, do you think it has anything to do with the fight him and Emily had yesterday? Did you see how they would not talk to each other for the rest of practice? I wonder what it was about." Lauren said; the wheels in her head beginning to turn.

"Actually, I was just talking to Payson about it. But I didn't see him before I came in this morning. But this is Sasha; I doubt anything would lead him to be easy on us." Kaylie said, her wonder matching that of her BFF. She wanted to ask if Lauren had heard from Carter, but knew that would be opening a can of worms she wasn't prepared to deal with.

"I-" Lauren was cut off when Emily gingerly sat down next to them. She didn't really seem to see them, too distracted with the pain that had suddenly sprung up in her body. It seemed that the minute she stepped into the gym, her entire body knotted up and started to scream.

"You ok there, Emily? You're still in your sweats you know." Payson said, looking at her friend. _'She looks really bad' _Payson thought. Emily just gave a groan and lay back on the mat, closing her eyes and trying to get her body to go numb. She usually never noticed pain, too distracted with the thrill of her tricks. But right now all she could concentrate on was the hurting, and how is seemed to be alive in her body.

"You know, Sasha is going to flip out when he sees you laying there being lazy." Lauren said, not being able to take the bitchess out of her voice. She kept trying to be nice and friendly, but it seemed like her default was a bitch. She bit her lip when the other two glared at her.

"Yea, I know. I just can't seem to move. My entire body is on fire. You know how we usually just work through any pain because we're hyped up on adrenaline and stuff? Well, it's not like that right now." Emily said, throwing an arm over her eyes to block out the light. The girls starred at each other, not sure what they should do. Payson shrugged before climbing to her feet.

"Well, I'm going to go chalk up and head to the floor. Sasha's making me take it slow so I have a lot of work to do. I hope you feel better soon, Emily." She said, patting Emily on the knee, which Emily had brought up.

"Thanks Payson. Hopefully I can peel myself off the floor before he gets in the building." Emily said, smiling up at her friend. It was hard to believe that she was actually developing real friendships with the girls now. Well, maybe not Lauren, but that was fine with her.

"Oh, too late. Here he comes, straight at us." Kaylie whispered, quickly going back to her stretches. Lauren finished up before jumping up to go to the chalk bucket, keeping herself facing Emily so she could see the show. Kaylie whispered a sorry to Emily before dashing away, not wanting to be in Sasha's path. Emily groaned as the girls deserted her, knowing she would have to face him on her own.

Emily still could not think about the fact that Sasha knew about the relationships going on at the Rock, and yet only punished her. She got mad every time she thought about it, because it was ridiculously unfair in her mind. Emily couldn't even move this morning because of the chastisement he had put her through. She was about to try to sit up when his shadow fell over her.

"Is there a reason you're lying around, Kmetko? Didn't we discuss how you're supposed to be improving your DoDs in the next two weeks? Do you want the National Committee to leave you behind again? Because that's where you're headed." Sasha's voice was like a whip, slashing across her with each word. She tried not to let him see her flinch.

"I can't move, Sasha. I can barely bend my knees." Emily said, once again trying to sit up. Her arms shook under her with the strain, but she finally got to a sitting position. She was able to stop herself from crying out, but everyone could see the pain etched in her face.

Sasha starred down at her, seeing the lines that had formed on her face. He felt horrible from his night of erotic dreams and then the hours he spent trying not to think about this very gymnast.

He also felt bad that the punishment, which was supposed to only last one day, had continued on into the next. He wished he could say she was lying about it, but Sasha saw how her arms quivered and how she tried not to move. He just didn't know what he was supposed to do to help her out without putting himself in a compromising position.

"Well, come on. I'll have Mrs. Keeler give you a massage in the office." Sasha said, reaching down to help her to her feet. Emily's eyes widened before taking his hand, letting him pull her up. She would have noticed the sensation of his hand in hers, yet the twinges that went through her body from standing distracted her.

"So what do you think is going on?" Lauren asked, walking over to where Kaylie was waiting to do her floor routine. They watched Payson finish up hers before coming to stand next to them.

"I don't know. I mean, is it just the two of them in the office? I wonder if he's going to yell at her and just didn't want the whole gym to hear." Kaylie said, shrugging before launching into her routine.

"Are you talking about Sasha and Emily? And my mom is in the office with them, so I don't think it could be anything that terrible." Payson said, chalking back up. Lauren looked disappointed that there wasn't more to it before she moved off to practice her vault.

Payson rolled her eyes at her friends before she too moved to do something else, thinking that they were ridiculous to think anything more was going on with Sasha and Emily. She took a deep breath before jumping up to beam, determined to get back to her old level.

"Kim, do you think you could give Emily a body massage? The workout I put her through yesterday has left her with knotted muscles, and I really don't want her pulling anything." Sasha asked, pushing Emily into the room.

Kim looked up from the paperwork she was doing, her brow furrowed. She took one look at Emily, who looked pitiful, and stood from her chair.

"Sure I will. If you'll just get down to your shorts and tank top, I'll be glad to give you a massage, Emily." Kim said, walking around the desk to stand by the girl. Sasha took his cue and exited the office, not wanting to even think about her in anything other than the baggy sweats and sweater she was wearing.

Emily watched Sasha leave before turning to Mrs. Keeler. She pulled her clothes off, trying to go slowly because of her sore muscles. She got down to her leotard and shorts before looking at her gym manager, not sure if she felt comfortable with getting more undressed.

"Um I don't have a tank top. I only have my sports bra." Emily said, waiting to see what she said. Kim went about putting a pillow on the couch, trying to get it ready for the massage.

"That's fine. Those are designed to be modest so it doesn't matter, as long as you're comfortable." Kim said. Emily nodded before pulling her leo down and stepping out of it and back into her shorts.

Kim pointed her towards the couch, which she gingerly laid down on. Kim watched as the muscles in Emily's back twitched from pain and she felt a protectiveness that she had with Payson overtake her for this girl.

Kim added lotion to her hands, warming it up between her palms before lightly beginning to rub Emily's shoulders. She felt Emily flinch and heard her let out a quiet moan, and she felt bad that as the massage continued, the more pain it seemed to cause. Kim tried to sooth Emily, but she knew that the gymnast would just have to tough it out to get the muscles unknotted.

"I know it hurts and I'm sorry for that. Hopefully the muscles will unknot quickly and it won't be so painful." Emily murmured in agreement, trying to relax her body so it didn't throb so badly.

The two stayed in a peaceful silence while Kim worked down Emily's back and to her legs. Emily, for her part, tried to make as little noise as possible, not wanting to hurt Mrs. Keeler's feelings that her massage was not making her feel any better. She was about to tell Payson's mom to not worry about it when the office door opened.

"Sorry to interrupt, but I figured you would be almost done. I need to look over some more paperwork, if you don't mind." Sasha said, sticking his head into the office. He focused only on Kim, not wanting to see Emily lying on the couch.

"Well, I think it's going to take a while longer because the muscles won't unknot. But you're welcome to come in, right Emily?" Kim asked, continuing to work on her legs. Emily shut her eyes before nodding in agreement.

"Great." Sasha responded before moving over to the desk.

He didn't want to acknowledge that he positioned the chair where he could see Emily out of the corner of his eye, because that would just lead to even worse thoughts. He was shocked when he saw she was only wearing a sport bra and shorts.

He was sure that she would have had a tank top on, since she always seemed to be wearing one. Sasha frowned at the papers on the desk before diving into work, doing his best to completely ignore the two women.

Chloe smiled as Steve Tanner sat down next to her, handing her a coffee cup. He smiled at her before sitting down, taking a sip of his own mug of Joe.

"So how's it going, Ms. Kmetko?" He asked, turning to look at her. Chloe felt her face flush with warmth and smiled back at him.

"It's going great actually. Emily got endorsements and things now. I'm trying to talk her into buying a car for herself, since I sometimes forget to pick her up, like yesterday." Chloe said, feeling guilty that she continuously forgot about her daughter. She was just so independent that Chloe forgot that she was still just 16.

"I'm sure she understands you're busy too. So endorsements huh, that's good. I sometimes wish Lauren would learn to earn things like money and friends, instead of them being handed to her. Do you think Emily will buy a KIA too?" Steve asked, stretching out his legs and watching his daughter flip off the vaulting board to land on her feet.

"I duuno what she's planning. I brought it up to her in the car but she said she wanted to make sure all the bills were paid before spending anymore. I wish sometimes Emily didn't have to work at earning money. I feel like a failure, since I'm the parent and I can't provide for her like I'm supposed to." Chloe said, staring down into her coffee mug, feeling depressed. Steve pulled one of her hands into his and squeezed it.

"I think you're doing the best you can, and I know Emily feels the same way. And I'm sure she's happy to get the sponsors, because that tells her that she is progressing and I think it has taught her about responsibility. At least with her you won't have to worry about her blowing through all the money and leaving herself broke." Steve said. Chloe nodded and looked up in time to see Sasha lead Emily up to the office.

"Oh jeez. I wonder what she did now. She told me that he punished her yesterday for two hours for her relationship with Damon. I can't believe he's mad at her again." Chloe said, worried for Emily. Steve squeezed her hand again and tried to silently lend his support.

The three occupants of the room were interrupted with the shrill ringing of the phone. Emily had just been able to relax when the ringing made her jump in surprise, causing her muscles to tense back up. She groaned as Mrs. Keeler jumped up from the ground, moving over to her purse, where the cell was.

Sasha rubbed at his temple, the ringing of the phone making his head hurt. He looked up at Kim, who was rummaging around in her bag for the thing.

"Sorry, it's probably Mark. I'm going to step out to take this." Kim said, grabbing the phone and flipping it open on her way out.

Sasha watched her go, not sure if he was comfortable being in the room alone with Emily when she was down to her underwear. He had been good for the last twenty minutes, not making any noise or drawing no attention to himself. Sasha had tried to ignore the little whimpers that seemed to be coming from Emily, trying to concentrate on his paperwork instead.

But now it was just him and Emily, and as he looked over at her, a flash of bare skin was enough to make him bury his face back in work. Emily, for her part, just kept her eyes shut and her face turned away.

She tried not to let the fact that she was in very small shorts and a workout bra affect her, but as the minutes skimmed by, she could feel her body becoming flush and the pulsing from yesterday began in her groin once more.

Kim came back into the room, a worried frown on her face. She walked over to the desk and put her phone back in her bag before turning towards her boss.

"So I need to take my lunch now. I just got off the phone with my security company. The alarm at my house is going off, so I need to go see if someone broke in. I hope it's ok Sasha, I know that there is a lot of work to be done today." Kim said, grabbing her purse. Sasha stood and nodded.

"No problem Kim. Go on ahead and I hope nothing was taken. We'll trudge on without you. You can take the rest of the day off if you need to." He said, coming from around the desk to stand in front of her. Kim smiled at him and fetched her keys out of her bag.

"Thanks Sasha. I'll call and let you know as soon as I do. So I was able to get most of Emily's muscles worked out, but her back is proving a problem. I'm not completely clear on what sort of penalty you had her doing, but there is a huge knot resting on her spine I wasn't able to get it out." Kim explained, heading towards the office door.

She waved at the two, both of which were staring at her. They waved back before the office door slid open and she left, the door sliding shut behind her.

Emily raised her eyes to peer at Sasha, not sure what he wanted her to do. Was she supposed to get up and try to train, or stay where she was? She was about to ask, when he walked over to her and knelt on the ground next to the couch.

Emily's breath caught in her throat at his proximity and she had to swallow twice to try and force the lump in her throat down.

"I'll finish up the massage and then you can go train. Your muscles don't seem to be twitching like they were, so that's good. This is probably going to be extremely painful, since the knot is on your spine." He explained before lightly resting his large hands against her back. He heard the air catch in her throat and had to fight from doing the same as he felt the warm, smooth skin beneath his hands.

Emily's head flopped back down unto the pillow as Sasha's hands began to move over her back. She tried to concentrate on the pain of the kneading, but the feel of his hands on her was making her body hum. She knew that she should feel awkward with him touching her, but Emily was enjoying it too much to feel anything close to awkwardness.

Sasha continued to rub her back, and as he did so, he could feel Emily's whole body relaxing. Sasha smiled to himself when he noticed she was not making any more sounds of pain, but he had to stop himself from groaning when he heard a quiet moan come from her. He moved his hands across her body, trying not to notice how it was heating up and he could feel her pulse quickening through her back.

"Hey look Pay, your mom just left, which means those two are in the office alone." Lauren said, stressing the last word. Payson watched her mom dash out of the gym, wondering what was going on. She only hoped it was nothing serious, since she knew that they were still struggling to pay off her doctor bill.

"I think you should get back to practice and stop worrying about something that is not even real. This is Sasha and Emily we're talking about. Both of which would not even think about doing what you're insinuating." Payson said, walking away from the drama that was Lauren.

"Ok Emily, all your muscles seem to be relaxed and unknotted. I want you to stand so I can test them." Sasha said, standing from his kneeling position.

He would never admit to anyone, but his knee still gave him trouble; and after kneeling for so long, it was throbbing something fierce. Emily slowly rolled off the couch, coming face-to-face with her coach. She bit her lip before standing in front of him, desperately wanting him to touch her again.

Sasha, for his part, did not blink an eye when she came off the couch and he could now see her front. He concentrated on skimming his hands down her body, feeling the muscles as he went. He needed to do this quickly, because if he had any more time to process that she was only barely dressed, Sasha was going to have a very large and _hard_ problem on his hands.

"Well, you seem to be right as rain. Do you think you can practice now?" He asked, stepping back away from her. Emily sighed with disappointment when his hands were gone, feeling cold and alone again. She nodded before grabbing her leotard and quickly stepping out of her shorts and back into it.

"Yeah Sasha, I feel great actually. Thank you so much for your help." She said, smiling at him. Emily turned to leave, but not before she saw the noticeable bulge in the front of his pants, a fact that the older man was desperately trying to hide. She felt a sense of power and happiness fill her at the fact that she was not the only one affected by the massage.

Emily smiled again before leaving the office, heading down to the floor with her clothes. She quickly stuffed her outerwear in her bag and went to the warm-up mat to begin. She sighed in pleasure as her body started working, grateful the pain was gone. Yet she was surprised when she moved into a split, that her body seemed to jerk with a whip of electricity from her neither regions.

'_Oh boy,' _Emily thought to herself as she once again lowered her body to the mat, the same feeling shooting through her. She groaned as the pulsing grew to enflame her body. Emily was about to try doing it again when Payson walked by her.

"Hey Em. How's the body feel?" Payson asked, stopping next to the other gymnast. Emily smiled before getting to her feet.

"I feel great actually, thanks." Emily said, smiling again before moving over to do her vault. Payson watched as Emily executed a perfect double yurchenko, something she couldn't do yesterday. Emily smiled again before running back to the start, where she once again landed on her feet. She felt elated and powerful, moving on to beam where she worked on improving her routine.

"Wow, did you just see that? Emily did her double yurchenko, something she couldn't do yesterday. I guess she's feeling better." Kaylie said to Lauren, both of whom had watched from the water tank. Lauren nodded before emptying her paper cup into her mouth.

"Yeah, I guess so. Oh my god, did you just see that? She did a double twist, double summersault off the beam! Holy crap, Kay." Lauren said, almost chocking when she said Emily's trick. Kaylie felt a twinge of fear shoot through her, a quiet voice in her head saying that she could be looking at the next National Champion.

Kaylie sighed before moving off to do her vault, wanting to concentrate on nothing but being the best. Just because Emily was having a good day did not mean she was a serious threat to Kaylie's title. _'I mean, she came in 12th at Nationals and I beat Genji Cho; no one else has ever done that!'_ Kaylie said to herself, reassured that she was still number one.

Emily grinned to herself as she grabbed her gym back and began putting her outerwear back on. She felt almost high off success today. She had completed adding new material to her beam, and after she had perfected it, Sasha had come down and told her she had done well.

Emily walked to her mom, who was standing by the door with Steve. She smiled, not really feeling like talking. All she wanted to do was relive today, from the time Sasha's hands touched her back to when he complemented her routines. She grabbed the keys from her mom, who quirked a brow at her, before dashing off to the car, where she waited for her mom.

Chloe soon came out to the car, wondering what had gotten into her daughter. She usually had a comment or something to say after a practice, but apparently not today.

"Are you ok, Emily? You seem out of it today. Although I must say that I thought you were amazing at practice, especially that new triple twisty thing you added to the floor. I didn't even know someone could do that on floor." Chloe said, starting to car and pulling out of the parking spot.

"Yeah, I wasn't sure I was going to be able to do it either. It needs a lot of height or you could land on your back, but I must admit, I nailed it today. I just feel so…I don't even know how to describe it, mom. I just want to relish in the feeling." Emily said, closing her eyes and picturing her new routines.

Chloe took the hint and turned on the radio, turning it on low so as not to disturb Emily. She smiled at herself, thinking things were finally turning around.

'_It's because we are the Mighty Mighty Kmetkos' _Chloe thought to herself, smiling at the image of the three of them together, all happy and content. She just hoped everyday could be like this one.


	5. Chapter 5

AN: Hey guys, sorry it has taken me so long to update. I'm up in Boston on a school trip and am taking online classes, so I've been overwhelmed. But I hope you like it and please keep reviewing. I got this first part of the chapter from iridescentglow, who wrote "Breaking and Entering." Also, any of the moves I put in here are real moves, and you can find them on you tube. Although I'm not a gymnast, so I don't really know what is really possible, but I put the tricks that I thought were really neat into the story. They will get harder as the story goes along.

**Chapter edited.**

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the anything of MIOBI. (Forgot to put that in here)

Emily stared up at her ceiling, frustrated that she was still awake. She knew that it was still early, probably not even midnight yet. Emily rubbed her eyes; rolling over to lie on her side, hoping she would find sleep that way.

Ever since she quit her job at the Pizza Shack, she had way too much free time, to the point of where she was going a little stir crazy. Since she didn't stay late to practice today, she had only had her brother for company in the house until her mother got home.

This problem is what led to her lying in bed for the past three hours, trying to get to sleep. Emily lifted her head and looked at her alarm, and groaned when she saw it was only 11 o'clock.

She rolled out of bed, thinking that if she wasn't going to get any sleep, than she could use that time to perfect her new routines. With Sasha wanting her to increase her tricks on all the apparatuses, she was determined to not let him down.

With her thoughts straying to Sasha and the way he was pushing all the girls, she could once more feel that tingle run through her body. The young adult sighed as she changed into her shorts and sports bra, trying to get her mind off her very 'off limits' coach.

'_I need to stop this! He's my coach and I'm his gymnast. It is very inappropriate and wrong! But…why does my body act this way? I never reacted to Damon this way, so why do I do it with Sasha?'_

Emily laced up her sneakers and grabbed her gym bag before leaving the house, planning on training until she was exhausted. She set her bag down on the sidewalk so that she could start her warm ups, knowing that she definitely did not need another sore body. She was determined to shine at the practice tomorrow and she was not going to let anything get in the way of it.

After finishing her warm-ups, Emily set out towards the Rock at a brisk walk, quickly forming a jogging rhythm. It took her twenty minutes, but she reached the gym with only a light sheen of sweat covering her body.

She slowed down as she neared it, heading towards the back door. Emily glanced over at the trailer and was pleased to note that all the lights were off. She took that as Sasha was asleep and she could get into the gym with no problem.

Emily crouched down in front of the door, sliding the lock pick Damon had given to her into the lock. She tried to be quite, knowing her luck, if there was noise, Sasha would hear her. She sighed when the door gave a soft 'click' before she eased her way through the door.

She quickly shut the door and relocked it, thrilled that she had gotten inside on her own. Emily was just about to walk around the corner when she heard the unmistakable sound of someone working out.

Peeking around the corner, Emily almost gasped when she saw Sasha, who was clad in only sweats, doing flips on the rings. She watched as his arms, the only thing supporting him, flexed as he spun around, and coming up to a handstand.

Sasha's body was glistening from sweat, making his muscular frame shine, and she had to stop herself from sighing out loud. She watched as he continued his routine, not being able to take her eyes off his body.

Sasha heard the "click" of the back door being unlocked as he swung around on the rings. He was just about finished with his workout and was slightly irritated that someone dared interrupt him.

Yet he knew that the only person with the guts to break into _his_ gym was Kmetko. He kept his groan to himself, not wanting to let her know that he was aware of her.

'_At least not yet'_

Sasha slowed his flips until he was straight in the air, a perfect handstand. His entire body was erect and he sighed at the familiar feel of all his body weight being held up by only his arms.

After a few seconds of the move, Sasha moved into another turn before he dismounted with a double summersault. He landed on his feet, with no misstep or wavering. He grabbed the towel from the floor, wiping his face as he moved towards the bars.

"You should come out now, Kmetko. It's not good manners to spy on people" Sasha said, his voice not rising because he knew she would hear him. He looked over to the place she was hiding and watched as her sheepish face emerged.

"I'm so sorry for interrupting. I didn't know anyone would be here." Emily said, her cheeks flushing in embarrassment. Sasha raised an eyebrow at her before laying the towel down next to the bars.

"Yes, sorry about that. I felt the urge to work out and came in through the _front_ door. But I should have thought about those who wanted to pick the lock and practice. How unkind of me." Sasha said, his voice dripping in sarcasm. Emily shuffled her feet and stared down at the floor.

"Well, come on, Kmetko. Get to practice, since that's why you're here. I want you to add tumbling to your beam routine along with a Teza, and add a few more saltos." Sasha said before he leaped up to the high bar.

Emily was astonished that he could go from the floor to the high bar, with no help. Usually the girls had to have him help them up to the high bar if that was where their routine had them starting out.

Emily nodded, even though she knew Sasha didn't see her since he was already starting his routine. She dropped her bag on the mats and stretched out, not being able to take her eyes off him. She sliced her legs into a split, leaning forward to stretch her muscles. Emily had to keep her thoughts to herself as she watched Sasha perform a perfect double full-out.

Emily rose from the floor, heading over to the beam. She placed her hands on it, visualizing in her mind the additions Sasha wanted her to make. She didn't know why he wanted her to add tumbling, since it really wasn't that difficult of a skill.

She saw herself do a double tumble at the beginning of the routine, but as she visualized it, it became clear to her that Sasha would want her to do a triple, since there was enough room.

The only problem was that she would have to land on the very edge of the end of the bar, on her tip toes, and not fall off. That would be a big problem, but she thought she could do it, since Sasha said she could.

Emily mounted the beam, not even bothering to do her normal routine. She just wanted to focus on the tumbling, which if she didn't nail, could either ruin her routine or get her injured. And Emily really didn't want either of those two things to happen.

She needed to be the very best she could be, and if she was honest with herself, Emily wanted to be the very best gymnast at the Rock. And if that meant she had to do tricks that could lead to serious injury, than that was just a risk she was going to have to take. Because she was Emily Kmetko and she was going to the Olympics.

Sasha finished up his bar practice, finishing up in a flawless dismount. He grabbed his water bottle, taking deep gulps of it before turning towards the beam, wondering how Emily was doing on her new additions.

As he watched, Emily started her tumbling, catching herself on her toes at the very edge of the beam. He was proud that she seemed to be able to already get it, after only a short amount of practice.

He walked over to the beam, watching as she continued to perfect the tumbling. It amazed him that she was able to pick up tricks so easily; something that he knew would lead her to the winner's pedestal. Sasha noted how Emily landed on both her feet with so much power.

"Why don't you take a small break, Emily? Than you can add in the Teza before the night is over." Sasha said, grabbing an extra towel from the floor for her. Emily deftly flipped off the beam before taking the towel from him, wiping the sweat from her face.

Emily stared at Sasha before she made her way over to him, where she accepted the towel he offered. She tried not to stare at his bare chest, which was extremely proved to be hard since it was glistening with sweat. She grabbed her water bottle for a distraction and turned back to her coach, determined to get her fears out in the open.

"Sasha…I need to talk to you about something. It's been bothering me since the invitational and I am really worried." Emily said quickly, afraid if she didn't, that she would not be able to bring it up. She felt awful for the thoughts she had, since Sasha believed in her, but she couldn't shake her fears.

"I'm all ears, Emily." Sasha said, dropping his towel to the ground, where he joined it on the mat, looking up at Emily. She swallowed at the image of him below her making her body start to do that "tingle".

She slowly sat down next to him, making sure that she looked as innocent as possible when her leg brushed his. Emily took a deep breath, hoping she looked like she was just taking a moment to think rather than savoring the feeling of her bare flesh against his sweats.

"I know you told us that we don't have to worry about going to Rome or the National Committee, but I have this feeling, and it's bad. I think they might try something, you know. Like suspending us or even kicking us off the team. I know you told us not to worry, but I just can't seem to help myself." Emily said, hugging her knees to her chest.

Sasha watched her as she voiced her fears, knowing she didn't want to tell them to him. He saw her face scrunch up from the effort it was taking for her to be completely honest with him.

Sasha was a little upset though; the fact that she didn't have as much faith in him that he put into all the girls was like a slap in the face. He gave them everything, and yet they still had these thoughts; because he knew that if Emily was having these thoughts, than the other girls would be having them as well.

"Well I'm upset you have these worries, but I understand. It's hard to let other people have any control over your future, but you have to realize that all I want for you is to get gold at the Olympics. I don't want to own you or control you, like the National Committee does. They aren't happy with us because you stood up to them. And you beat them. That has made them angry.

"I know sometimes it seems like I push too hard or too fast, but that's because I know you can do it. There is absolutely nothing holding _you_ back Emily, nothing but yourself. And I promise you that you're going to Rome. As long as you blow the practice out of the water, they will have hell to pay if they don't take you.

"And I've already been in contact with two of the nation's top gymnastics magazines to do interviews with all of you, especially if the Committee tries to pull anything. Politics crumble under the pressure of the people, and I am prepared to petition every US citizen about the issue if I have to." Sasha said, leaning closer to her, trying to make his point.

Emily bit her lip when Sasha started to lean into her, her head filling with the smell of sweat and chalk and…Sasha. She nodded her head, thankful that Sasha was able to put her fears to bed. She knew deep down that as long as she had Sasha on her side, there was nothing for her to fear. He got her this far, hadn't he?

"You're right Sasha, I'm sorry I doubted you. I think the pressure might be getting to me. I'm so scared of not being taken to Rome or to Worlds. If I don't make those than I probably won't be going to the Olympics and my life would have been for nothing. All that training and dedication, and it could all be over." Emily said, her voice trailing off into a whisper. She couldn't believe she was actually confiding in her coach about this. To _Sasha _about it.

Sasha scooted closer to her, wanting to ease Emily's troubled mind. Even as he moved across the mat, he knew he should not be doing it. By moving over to her, he has eliminated the extra space that he had had, making it very difficult to move without bumping into her. And with Emily only wearing a sports bra and shorts, anywhere he bumped was usually bare skin, which made Sasha swallow a groan.

"All I ask is that you do your very best and trust me. If you do those two things, than there should be no way you don't make it to Rome. You do still trust me Emily, right?" Sasha asked. Emily's head jerked up, not expecting that question.

"Of course I trust you, Sasha! I have never trusted anyone more in my entire life! But you know this, since you caught me off the beam." Emily said, not sure why he questioned her trust. Sasha smiled and leaned closer to her, as if to part with a secret.

"Then you have nothing to fear, Emily." He said, his hot breath tickling Emily's face. She looked up at him, but her eyes got caught on his lips.

They were kind of thin, yet very appealing for her. Before Emily knew what she was doing, she had brought her fingers up and was tracing his lips with her fingertips. She almost gasped at the silky feel of them, well that was until he pulled her hand away.

"Emily, I don't know what you were thinking, but don't." Sasha said before rising, walking away from her. He had noticed how her eyes darkened when she was looking at him, and all he had wanted to do was kiss her. But he knew that to give in to such an act would have dire consequences, for the both of them.

"Sasha I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me." Emily said, rising to her feet as well.

She was mortified that she had done that. She had kissed her coach! HER COACH! Emily felt humiliated and ashamed and scared, scared that she might have just messed everything up. She bit her lip and turned to collect her things, needing to be as far away from him as possible.

"Emily, wait. I…" Sasha said, not wanting her to leave upset. Yet he didn't know what to say to her either.

He couldn't tell her that all he wanted to do was to smash his lips to hers or that he wanted to take her on the mats. Any answer that was floating in his head would be a disaster. He clenched his jaw and rubbed his forehead, not sure of himself. Emily turned and looked at him, her eyes filling with tears at the thought of him openly rejecting her.

"Emily, I am your coach. And that is all I can ever be to you, do you understand? I cannot be anything more to you than that." Sasha said. Emily's eyes rose to his, detecting that was not all he wanted to say.

"I know Sasha, and I'm sorry. I…well I'll just have to keep my hormones in check." Emily said, stretching out on a limb. She was hoping that she had been correct in her assumption that he wanted her too, but if she was wrong Emily would be further humiliated.

Sasha's eyes flashed to hers before he turned away, not wanting her to see any kind of emotion in them. He had to be strong, since it appeared that Emily was not going to be.

"Well I guess you will, Kmetko. I don't want to have to repeat myself again. Now I think it's time for you to go home." He said, not turning to see if she complied. So he was a little startled when he felt her small hand on his back, searing him with the touch. Sasha spun around to look at her and almost knocked Emily over.

"I was just wondering, before I go, if…well I know we'll only be coach and gymnast. But, is that all you _want_ us to be?" Emily asked, her green orbs large and questing. Sasha starred at her, shocked that she would just come out and ask him. He debated with himself over his answer, yet the longer he took to more hopeful her face became.

"Emily I…would it be better for either of us if I said I did want you? Because I think it would just cause problems and we're both not ready to deal with those difficulties." Sasha said. Emily's lips curved into a smile, and Sasha almost groaned when he realized what he had said.

"Well I'm just glad that I'm not the only one with these feelings. And I do think it makes things better, Sasha." Emily said, smiling up at him. Sasha was thrilled to know she also had feelings for him, but he wasn't about to risk everything to pursue them.

"I really think it's time for you to go, Emily." Sasha said, his voice coming out a little raspy.

Emily grinned before leaning up on her tiptoes, lightly kissing him. Sasha grabbed her arms, planning on pushing her away, yet he found himself holding her to him. Emily sighed against his mouth, pressing her lips firmer to his before pulling away.

"I just know I'll probably never get to do that again, so I wanted to enjoy it. Bye Sasha, I'll see you for practice. I can't wait to shock the National Committee at the next practice. And thanks, for helping me so much. I know that I'm a better gymnast because of you and I'm so glad that you're my coach." Emily said, backing away from him. She gave a sad smile before leaving the gym, glancing over her shoulder before she left.

Sasha stroked his lips with his fingertips, still able to feel the warmth and smoothness of Emily's. He couldn't believe that he had kissed his gymnast. And now she knew that he harbored feelings for her, and vice versa.

Sasha groaned at the possibly of problems this could cause. He gathered up his things before leaving the gym, heading to his trailer, where even as he fought it, memories of that kiss kept popping up in his mind.

'_That girl is going to be a handful. I just know this is going to evolve into something. I just wish I knew what that something was' _Sasha thought to himself as he laid down for bed.

AN: Sorry again for the delay. And sorry for any errors, I was trying to post quickly. So if there are too many let me know and I'll repost the chapter later. Please review and let me know what you think.


	6. Chapter 6

AN: Hey everyone. I am sooooo sorry that I haven't updated! I just finished with my summer semester in school and am working nonstop now. No excuse, I know. But I'm feeling pumped and excited about continuing the story. I like the new season, and I may use some of the things in this story, but there will be no Payson/Sasha or anything like that. Hope you guys enjoy and review!

**Chapter edited.**

_Emily turned into the shower spray, desperately needing the soothing from the hot water. Her body was enflamed, pulsing rapidly in time with her neither regions. She could see the look in Sasha's eyes as she landed all her new routines. It was so erotic and made her shiver just remembering the fire that had burned in his eyes. _

_And the feel of his lips from that kiss, their silky smoothness making Emily sigh with longing._

_Turning quickly when she heard the shower door open, Emily almost slipped, yet was caught by the strong hands of Sasha, who brought his naked body flush to hers. Emily gasped and grabbed onto his shoulders, not knowing what to do. _

"_SASHA! What are you doing?" She asked, trying to step back. But Sasha was having none of that; he clamped his big hands to her hips, keeping their bodies flush._

"_I'm giving you what you want." Sasha said and skimmed his hands up her body, cupping her small breasts in his hands, seeming to weigh each one before tweaking her nipples. When Emily let out a moan, he brought his lips down to hers to give her a kiss that had Emily's toes curling. _

_Emily moaned into the kiss, wrapping her arms around his neck to pull herself up onto her tip toes. She sighed when she felt his stiffened member, relishing in the thought that she caused it._

_She ran her hands through Sasha's hair before skimming them down his back, feeling all the defined muscles. She pulled away for air and moaned when Sasha took the opportunity to plant kisses on her neck. _

_Emily grasped his member, delighting in the groan that sounded through Sasha's throat. Yet that beautiful sound was interrupted with an annoying and persistent beeping._

The alarm that had once been on Emily's nightstand soon found its way to the floor; having been knocked over by its owner's flapping hands. The poor machine gave one last, and pathetic, beep before it died.

Emily groaned as she rolled over in bed, not wanting to lose her dream. She was pissed that her alarm should go off when things were just getting good. _'It deserved its death!' _Emily thought to herself as she slowly sat up, rubbing sleep from her eyes.

She turned on her bedside lamp before retrieving the battered clock. She smiled at it fondly, thinking of all the times it had ended up on her floor, or better yet, against the wall. Emily thought about trying to fix it again, yet the thought that she could actually just go buy a new one appealed to her.

She would never admit to anyone, especially not her mother, but she did want to use her new money and buy all the things she had always wanted. Emily looked at her Go-Phone, a very basic flip phone, and wished she could splurge and get a new Smartphone. Like a BlackBerry or an Iphone. Yet she knew that there was no reason for that, since she never really called or texted anyone.

Emily rose from the bed, turning to remake it before heading into the bathroom to begin her morning routine. She took extra care with her leotard and appearance because today was the National Team practice.

Today was the day that she showed everyone on the National Team that she deserved to be there, and that she wasn't going anywhere. Sasha believed in her, her sponsors believed in her, and Emily Kmetko believed in her.

"Come on, Kaylie, I'm going to drive you to the gym today. I don't want you to have to drive and try to concentrate on your routines at the same time." Ronnie Cruz said, poking her head into her daughter's room.

"Yeah ok, I'm ready to go. Well, no wait. Um…are you going to be ok with Marty being there?" Kaylie asked, turning to her mother. She would not tell Ronnie that she couldn't bear the thought of Marty, let alone the fact that he had to coach her. But she was number one, and Kaylie was damned sure going to act like it.

"Oh honey, I'll be just fine. I am sorry for what I did, but I'm passed it and am working on the future. A future I'm hoping your dad will want to be a part of soon." Ronnie said, smiling at Kaylie.

She didn't want Kaylie to know that she was worried that Alex may never forgive her and that he may really want a divorce. She really tried to ignore it most days, and Ronnie was determined to do the same today.

"Ok, if you're sure mom. Although there's nothing I can do to change my coach. Well I personally can't wait to wow the committee. I added another spin to my Arabian in floor, making it a triple, which puts me at the highest difficultly level of anyone on the team." Kaylie gushed, pleased with herself. She had no doubt that she would be taken to Rome as number one.

Lauren glared at her reflection in the mirror, not understanding what was wrong with her. She was pretty, rich, and a great gymnast; yet Carter still left her. She didn't know what it was about her that kept putting people off; sure she was bitchy and all, but she was still human with human feelings and people kept trampling on them.

Lauren sighed before turning away from the mirror to grab her jacket from her bed. She was determined to show the National Committee that she was amazing and that she should go to Italy. Lauren was not going to let anything or anyone get in her way, and if someone else had to go down for her to succeed; well that was just the name of the game.

She smiled to herself as she grabbed her gym bag, heading out to her car. She was slightly disappointed that her dad wasn't going to drive her; in fact she didn't even think he was awake yet. _'Probably been up all night with that hooker of a girlfriend' _Lauren thought to herself, feeling the familiar hate fill her.

'_Wait, you said you would try to be nice'_ she thought, than shrugged her shoulders, disregarding the thought. When it came down to it, Lauren was going to look out for number 1, and no one else was even going to be on her radar. So she would play nice, at least for a little while, but she was not going to change who she was to please others.

Sasha silently unlocked the gym, worrying about the upcoming practice as he went. He had no illusions; he knew that Beals would try to pull something; he just wasn't sure what that something was. Sasha flicked on the lights before heading up to his office, knowing that the girls would soon arrive.

Thinking about his Rock girls made the coach think of Emily, and the kiss that she had planted on him, making Sasha curse to himself. He should not be thinking about his gymnast as anything other than as a gymnast; never mind the dreams that had been plaguing him for the last two weeks.

Sasha thought over the past weeks as he set about gathering paperwork on the desk. He had tried to keep all interactions with Emily down to a minimum, just enough to encourage and/or correct her. It had been hard, especially considering all the small touches Emily would give him.

_Sasha watched as Emily performed a beautiful double-front tuck onto the beam. He was glad that she had incorporated that move into her routine, but at the same time it was tricky. _

_If she missed at all,_ _than her entire performance would be jeopardized, since it was the move she used to get onto the beam. He would almost prefer her to just get on the beam first, but Sasha knew Emily, and he knew that she would not do things by halves._

"_Great double-tuck, Emily. Now let's see that tumbling." Sasha said, crossing his arms as he watched._

_Emily gave a slight nod before doing a low-beam move that put her on the very end of the beam. She took a deep breath before launching into her triple tumble, landing on the other end of the beam on her tip-toes. She did a small twirl to get her back where she needed to be before going into her next move of tricks._

_Sasha nodded as she dismounted, with only the slightest waver. He would have to correct that before the National Team practice, since he didn't want to give them any reason, no matter how small, to not take her to Rome._

"_Good work, Kmetko. You only had a slight waver at landing, but I think that you can sharpen it up before the practice. Now go work on your floor. I'm going to help Kaylie and Lauren and then I'll come by and see how you're doing."_

"_Ok, thanks coach." Emily said, giving him a blinding smile before walking past. _

_The touch was almost too light for him to feel, but not light enough. Because Sasha felt her hand skim down his arm and across his back as she walked by. _

_He shook his head before heading over to bars, where Kaylie was attempting to perfect a double-Arabian. He refused to think of that touch for the rest of the day, even when his brain ignored him and thought of her anyways._

Sasha rolled his eyes at his thoughts, annoyed that they had once again trailed to Emily. That girl was going to cause some serious issues in his life if he didn't get her out of his system. Determined to get back to work, Sasha picked up the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hello Marty. I wanted to let you know I've opened the gym up so you can head over whenever."

"Great thanks. Hey listen, I wanted to speak to you about a few things. I was very impressed with your meet against China. But I'm worried for the girls because I think Beals may try something tomorrow. You know she doesn't like you and I think that she might try to get the girls shut out from the Rome meet."

"Well, all three of my girls are looking great so she's going to have a tough time trying that. Although I know exactly what you mean, since I was thinking she would try something myself. But I do have a solution for that, if you're interested."

"What is it?"

"Well, you could have the practice videotaped, as a means of watching the girls' routines and fine tuning them. And if the Rock girls were kept from going, I have interviews set up where the video may happen to play. This would cause a problem for the National Committee, don't you think?"

"Yeah I think they would have a serious upset from people. I will use my right as they're coach to tape every girl's performance and then I may accidentally make a copy of it and leave it lying around. I'm headed there now and the Committee should be there soon."

"Good." Sasha hung up the phone and leaned back in his chair. He was glad that Marty was taking his job as a coach seriously and not letting the politics influence his decisions about the girls.

He was also thrilled that Marty had allowed for the taping, since he knew that if the practice were leaked to the press, the National Committee would crumble and his girls would be on the next flight to Rome.

The silent gym soon became abuzz with activity. The twelve team members began stretching out on the mats, wanting to get warmed up before the National Committee got there. They were all determined to have a wonderful practice and go to Rome.

_Too bad only six could go._

Marty scanned the girls, noting the segregation that had the 'Rock Rebels' on one side of the gym and the other nine girls on the other. He was not happy to see it so blatantly obvious and planned to do something about that. If a team was split up between themselves, there was not much hope of them working together to beat the other countries.

He grabbed the practice camera and placed it in front of floor, deciding that is where the practice would start. He was just about to gather the girls up when the National Committee entered, Ellen Beals at the head. Marty sighed to himself before he walked over to greet them.

"Good morning Ms. Beals. We are just about to start so you came at a good time." Marty said, trying not to sneer at the woman. _If you can call her a woman._

"Morning Marty. The National Committee is ready to see what the gymnasts have in store for us. We have decided to use today's practice as the deciding one instead of stretching it out over two days. At the end of practice today, we will have our six for Rome." Ellen said, trying to keep the contempt out of her voice.

She couldn't stand Marty, who was little better than Sasha in her mind. Ellen couldn't wait to start pitting the girls against each other and their coaches, so that in the end they would come to her for advice and help.

Then she would have them where she wanted them, and she would soon be the only coach. Ellen smiled to herself as her plans circled through her brain, and she intended to set them into motion today.

The practice soon got off the ground, quickly going through each girl. Usually they would have one girl on one apparatus and another on a different one, at the same time, but since he only had one camera, Marty was doing one apparatus at a time so he could film each girl.

He was shocked at the Rock girl's improvements. All three of them were doing outstanding and he was glad to see that they were blooming into their full potential. He watched as Emily did a successful double-tuck dismount off the beam and made a notation on his board before the next girl began.

"So you guys really think you're going to Rome? I wouldn't hold my breath on that." Kelly Parker stated, sauntering over to where the Rock girls were standing.

Ellen had told her that she was very reluctant to take the 'Rebels' so Kelly wasn't worried. Sure, Kaylie would probably go, but neither Emily nor Lauren would. Kelly refused to even acknowledge that they had both been doing better than her during practice.

"Yea, I'm pretty sure. Although, you're position does look a little shaky, don't you think so girls?" Kaylie asked, crossing her arms over her chest and smiling sweetly at Kelly. Emily and Lauren both stood next to her, presenting a united front.

"Yep, pretty shaky. What with Kaylie's new floor routine and Lauren's outstanding beam, I don't know if there is going to be room for you." Emily said, her lips switching as she tried to suppress a smirk.

"Oh don't forget your new vault, although we haven't done that yet. Did you know that Emily has added a double yurchenko to her vault? That puts her DoD level way higher than yours." Lauren said, grinning at the surprised look Kelly gave her.

"Yeah well, I have it on good authority that the National Committee doesn't want you girls on their team and are going to try to get you removed. I mean, with you going against them to compete with China and labeling yourself 'rebels' they're looking for any reason to kick you off." Kelly snapped, thrilled to have the last word and to be able to deal that blow to them.

"Really, because I think they won't have any reason to kick us off. And when we bring home the gold from Rome, they really won't want to kick us off." Kaylie said, dismissing the other girl with her words before turning to head towards vault, the next apparatus for practice.

Kelly glared at the other girls, who smiled at her before following Kaylie over to the vault. She could not believe the gall of them. There was no way that Ellen Beals was going to allow them to compete. She had already been assured by the woman that she would be going as number one to all the competitions and Worlds.

Emily grinned at her dismount off bars, thrilled by the successful trick. She was the last girl on bars, which was the last thing in practice. She felt assured and positive; there was no way she wasn't going to Rome.

All her routines had been flawless, something that she was beginning to enjoy. Before, Emily had had very little consistency, but now, especially with her new confidence, she was nailing her routines 9/10 times. She hugged her gym mates before they all headed into the shower room.

Thankfully, whoever had built the shower, had seen the upside of having small individual showers, instead of a large communal one. The thought of barring it all to one's teammates was not an appealing concept.

The girls quickly showered and changed, many not speaking to others. The majority of the National Committee was shocked and dismayed at the progress the Rock girls had made. It became very apparent that if they wanted to go anywhere in the future, they were going to have to learn to beat the girls within their own team.

They all filed out into the gym, where that National Committee and Marty were waiting for them. By the looks on their faces, they were not particularly happy about the results, which caused many of the girls to feel a clutch of fear.

"If I can have your attention, we have the rankings of the girls going to Rome. In first place, Kaylie Cruz." Ellen said, her voice showing her displeasure with saying the words.

Kaylie grinned and stepped forward, moving over to stand next to Marty, who smiled at her. She didn't care that Ellen didn't want her to go, or that Marty had slept with her mom, all she cared about was that she was going to Rome, in first place!

"In second place, Kristen Henneford with Emily Kmetko going in third place. Lauren Tanner is fourth, Andrea Conway fifth and finally Beth Atchinson in sixth place. The rest of you, good practice and we will meet next month for World's tryouts and the competition in Brazil. Then it's off to World's." Ellen said, lowering her clipboard and dismissing the girls. She had to fight to keep the sneering out of her voice and the glare out of her stare as she turned to work out traveling arrangements with the girls.

"Well, looks like you lose Kelly." Kaylie whispered as the girl passed. Kelly humped at her and stormed away, furious that she would be staying home.

As the Rock quickly emptied, the three girls grinned at each other before heading over to Sasha's trailer, where he was reading a book out in front. He looked up at them as they approached, yet he wasn't able to read their faces, as they were attempting to not reveal anything.

"So how did you girls do? I hope well, if not then we're going to have to reveal the problems to the press in your interviews." Sasha said, standing from his chair.

They looked at each other before bursting into brilliant smiles and rushing to hug him. Sasha was a little startled by this but hugged them back before quickly untangling himself.

"We're all going to Rome! And we're all in the top four. I'm one, Em's three and Lo's four!" Kaylie said, giddy with happiness. Sasha beamed at them.

"That's great, girls. I'm so proud of you! Now you leave in two days so make sure you're prepared and have your passports all straightened out. And don't forget about the interviews that are set up for tomorrow. They're at 9 in the morning so that you can get them over with and pack and get ready." Sasha said.

The girls nodded before each started to move towards their cars, well except Emily. She watched as Lauren drove away and Kaylie spoke with her mom before climbing into the car.

"I wanted to let you know how grateful I am for all the support you've given me, Sasha. I know I couldn't have done any of this without you. I would _be_ nothing without you." Emily said, staring up at her coach. Her eyes, a very appealing shade of green, sparkled with an emotion that Sasha knew would get them both in trouble.

"I was just doing my job. And you have such raw talent, that with the proper coaching you will be able to do anything. I believe, truly, that you'll be at the 2012 Olympics, maybe even the 2016 ones." Sasha said, moving to pick up his book.

He was ashamed to admit that by moving to his book, he affectively put the table between the two of them. Yet he could not allow for anymore kisses or touches, as they were inappropriate and would land them both into dire circumstances, especially with the National Committee.

"Well I guess I'll see you after we get back from Rome. My mom's over there, so bye Sasha." Emily said, a little hurt that he had wanted to put space between them. But she still remembered the massage and the kiss, and Emily knew that Sasha felt something for her, even if he refused to act on it.

"Yes well, have a great meet. I hope you girls bring home gold and we'll be watching." Emily waved bye before dashing over to her mom's car. Sasha waved bye before turning to go into his trailer, determined not to think about Emily. He only wished that his determination would win out one of these days.

The next two days were a blur, between the interview and packing for Rome. The girls all checked that they had enough money and their passports, deciding to spend the night at Kaylie's where they stayed up all night talking about the upcoming trip. And before anyone realized, it was the day to fly out.

They're families and friends saw them off, with their coach in the background, lending support. The girls said their goodbyes before boarding the plane, each determined to reach the podium and bring home gold.


	7. Chapter 7

AN: Hey guys. Sorry for the wait but I just haven't been really motivated to write. I only got a couple of reviews and it made me a little sad. I know that the last chapter didn't deal with Sasha and Emily a lot, but I want the story to be actually believable and not just smut. I really enjoy the series, even though I am so mad at the new season. But hopefully you guys will like this next chapter better. It is still going to be about the meet in Rome, but there will be Sasha and Emily in there too. Also I have made it to where they girls can get as many medals as possible, even though I don't think it's like that in real life. Hope you like and review, please.

**Chapter edited.**

Emily stared around in wonder, not believing that she was actually in Rome, Italy. It felt like she was living in a dream; one that she desperately didn't want to wake from. She twirled around the room, thankful that she was by herself for the time being. Her roommate, Beth Atchinson, was down in the hotel's restaurant.

Emily gathered from the room placements that the National Committee was going to try and keep the Rock girls separated. All three of them had different roommates and according to Ellen, were not supposed to leave their rooms. Even as she told the other girls to meet downstairs for dinner.

Shrugging her shoulders at the childishness of the National Committee, or more likely Ellen Beals, Emily grabbed her toiletries bag and headed to the in-suit bathroom. She placed her things in the shower and on the sink before she stripped off her airplane clothes and got in the warm spray.

Ellen smiled at the three girls gathered at her table. She was upset that the National Committee had decided to not have Kelly Parker present, wanting to see what the other girls had to offer. She was irritated because Kelly and her got along and wanted the same thing.

For the Rock girls and Sasha Belov to be kicked out of gymnastics for good.

She forced herself to turn back to the girls, thrilled that she was gaining their favor. Even if her favorite girl couldn't be there, she was still going to try to turn the girls away from Marty and each other. And Ellen had already started that by separating the Rock girls.

She nodded to a girl, not even knowing what she was talking about. All Ellen had to do was play to their needs and she would be coach in no time. And when she was coach, Ellen planned to run the Rock girls right off the team.

The shocking blast of cold water shook Emily out of her daydream and she quickly shut water off before stepping out of the shower. She shivered as the A/C hit her wet skin, grabbing the fluffy towel to dry off quickly. Emily wrapped the towel around her hair before sliding into the robe offered by the hotel. She sighed in contentment as the thick robe warmed her.

Walking back into room, Emily was about to lay down when she had to dash to her bag where her phone was ringing. She saw her mother's number on the screen and flipped it open to chat with her excited mom.

Kaylie rolled her eyes at Lauren's topic. She really didn't want to talk about boys anymore. After Carter left without even giving Kaylie and him a chance, Kaylie was determined to focus solely on her gymnastics. She couldn't afford to get complacent or too sure of herself, especially after the practice Emily had performed.

"I really don't want to think about boys anymore Lo. I just want to focus on my gymnastics, and I think you should do that too. I want to win gold tomorrow and I am not going to let anything distract me from that."

"Fine, be boring than. I was just saying that finding an Italian boy would be fun. Jeez Kay, you used to be more fun. Well I'm going to go order something to eat. See you tomorrow." Lauren said before clicking out of Skype.

Kaylie sighed at the tone Lauren used, but she was still determined to stay focused. If she allowed her friends to make her decisions and such, she would be at the bottom of the heap with no way up. Kaylie closed her laptop and headed for the bathroom, deciding to take a warm bath before bed.

The stands were crowded with families and fans; the noise level was deafening. The girls followed Marty out to the mats, where they were to begin their warm up practice. Each one felt the shudder of nerves as they stripped out of their sweats to stand in a line at the vault. It was important that they get any flaws out of their routines now, before the scoring began.

Sasha scanned the room, noting the arrangements of the parents. Ronnie Cruz had welcomed everyone to a viewing party at the Cruz's house, and without being able to refuse and not come off as a bastard, Sasha had to endure they're company.

Not that he had anything against the parents of his gymnasts; he would just have preferred to watch the meet on the TV in his office. There he could cheer them on all he wanted, without having to check his behavior.

But here, he had to maintain his aloof persona and keep his cheering to himself. Sasha would never allow any of the parents to know how much he loved all his girls, like they were his own, and when they accomplished something, he was thrilled for them.

'_Well, except Emily. I don't see her as a daughter.'_

Sasha shook his head and took his seat, watching the large TV as all the teams were shown warming up. _(Because they were in the USA, they're satellite was programmed to the USA camera, so that it focused mainly on the USA team.)_

"Oh look, there are the girls. They look kind of nervous, don't they?" Chloe Kmetko commented, pointing to the screen.

The Rock girls were clustered together on one side of the screen while all the other girls were on the other side. Marty was walking to each girl, leaning down to converse with each one before moving on to another one.

"Well, I'm sure they'll be great. They've practiced for this hard and I don't have any worries." Payson said from her place next to her mom. She tried not to feel jealous, but she could still feel that evil stab in her heart. Payson ignored the pang and forced herself to smile and cheer for her club mates.

"You're right, Payson. I know Kaylie has been training none stop for this, and I expect gold." Alex Cruz said, nodding to the teen.

The parents tried to be oblivious to the fact that Ronnie was on one coach and her husband on the other. They all knew that the divorce was postponed, but no one wanted to be the one to bring up the topic. So everyone avoided speaking of it; well at least while they were in the Cruz's presences.

Sasha was about to comment on the other girls' training when his phone rang. He glanced down at the screen and quickly excused himself. He took the phone into the kitchen before answering.

Emily hugged her team jacket around her, trying not to shake with her nervousness. She could barely breathe from the pressure she felt. Emily tried to swallow the lump in her throat down, but her mouth was so dry that it was impossible. She grabbed her water bottle to try and ease the dryness, but that too didn't seem to work.

"Emily, are you ok? You look a little green." Kaylie asked, peering up at her friend from her seat on the floor. She tried not to be pleased that Emily seemed so shaken, but if she was, then that meant Kaylie was that closer to gold.

"Yeah, I'm just…I've never been in an international competition. The pressure is almost more than I can stand." Emily murmured, wrapping her arms around herself as if to keep herself together.

She really needed someone to reassure her and tell her that she was going to do great. But the only person who had that kind of power for her was…Sasha. Yet she didn't have a way of talking with him since her phone wasn't international. She could receive calls, but she couldn't make them.

"Hey Kaylie, are you able to make calls to Boulder?" Emily said, turning back to her friend. Kaylie raised her eye brows before nodding, not sure why she would want to make a phone call. The competition was about to start.

"Can I borrow it? I really need to speak with someone." Emily asked, holding her breath until Kaylie placed the phone in her hand. She sighed in relief before turning away and dialing the number she knew by heart.

Kaylie and Lauren shared a look of curiosity before they continued to stretch their muscles. They would find out soon enough who Emily was talking to; so for now they just needed to concentrate on their routines.

About to start in to the training Emily had been doing to get Alex off his high horse, Chloe was distracted from the conversation when she saw Kaylie hand Emily a cell phone.

"Look, Emily's calling someone. I guess she needed some reassurance." Chloe said, looking down at her cell. She was waiting for it to light up with a call, but the longer she waited, the more confused she became. If Emily wasn't calling her, than whom was she calling?"

"Excuse me for a minute." She turned to see Sasha leave the room, his phone in his hands.

'_Well that's odd. I would have thought she would want to talk with her mom. Although, he is her coach, so he would be able to give her advice, I guess.' _

Chloe shrugged before turning back to the TV, where it was now showing Emily sitting in between Lauren and Kaylie, the phone between them all.

"Hey Coach. I'm sorry to call, I just really needed to…well…I needed to hear your voice. I never thought it would be so difficult to do a completion without you here." Emily murmured into the phone. Her face went scarlet at admitting her need for him, even if it was just his voice.

"Emily, you'll do great. But you can call me whenever you need to, and you know that. Now I…well I guess it's flattering that you needed my voice, but Emily, that has to stop. But don't think about it right now. I want you to concentrate on your gymnastics right now.

"You are so talented and powerful. The ability that lies in you is so strong that I don't think there are many that can compare. I have absolute faith in your abilities and your drive to win. You are a winner and I have the up-most faith in you placing today.

"So take a few deep breaths and calm down. If you let your nerves overtake you, than all the training you've done will have been for nothing. And then you'll let Ellen Beals win. Do you want her to win and keep you from going to Worlds'?"

"No, I want to prove her wrong. I want to stand on that podium and know that I belong there. I don't want her or anyone else to ever say I'm not National Team material. Because I am, and I'm going to show them that I am a winner." Emily said passionately.

"Good, I'm glad I can hear the fire back in your voice. You will make me, your mother, and your brother proud. But, more importantly, you'll make yourself proud."

"Thanks Sasha. I know I'm supposed to try and keep things professional, but I really needed to hear you tell me I can do this. You're belief in me has gotten me so far and it pushes me to embrace my talents rather than allow them to be overshadowed."

"Well I'm your coach and that is what I'm here for. To help my gymnasts improve and be all that they can be. Which means I need you to go over to Kaylie and Lauren and let me speak with them as well? Put me on speaker phone."

"Ok, hang on."

Emily walked over to her teammates and dropped down to sit between them, holding out the phone in front of her.

"Hey guys, Sasha wanted to speak with all of us." Emily said, before turning the speaker phone on.

"Girls, I know that it can be difficult to do competitions where you're away from your families and coaches. But I believe in all three of you and I know that you girls are going to snub the National Team Committee.

"I want you to prove to them that you are the best gymnasts in America and that you can handle the pressures of being the best. You girls are some the best I've ever coached, and I am so proud of the strives you've already taken. But today is another hurdle that you must all overcome, so that there is no question about who goes to World's. Good luck and I will see you when you get back to Boulder."

"Thanks Sasha, we really appreciate it. And we'll make you proud." Kaylie said before shutting the phone off. She felt relieved to have heard from him, since being away from Sasha did cause a small amount of distress. It is difficult to try and compete against others when your primary coach is not with you.

"Wow, I feel better. I didn't want to say anything, but I was a little nervous. After my flop in China, I didn't want a repeat." Lauren said, taking a deep breath to center herself. The other two nodded, but before they could say anything, the announcements were made and the completion was underway.

Sasha sighed as he shut off his phone. He knew that the problems with Emily were still very apparent, and this call had just made them worse. To know that she needed his voice to sooth her was a very dangerous thought.

He really needed to try hard to stop this attraction. Yet even as Sasha berated himself, he couldn't ignore the warmth that spread through him at the thought of her needing him.

'_You have to stop this! She is a sixteen year old girl and your gymnast! You could go to jail for doing anything with her. And you'd be outlawed from coaching ever again.'_

Sasha groaned to himself before returning to the living room, not sure how he was going to handle Emily. It wouldn't be so difficult if the attraction wasn't mutual. But it was and he was left with a hormonal teen that kept trying to find ways to get alone with him. Sasha rubbed his forehead before sitting down, not looking at the parents.

If any of them, especially Chloe, knew what was going through his mind, he'd be ruined. No one would believe him that this was the first time he had ever seen a gymnast as anything other than a daughter. If word got out, he would be labeled a pervert and have to move to try and escape the rumors. Sasha was determined not to let that happen.

Emily smiled sleepily to herself as she clutched her medals close to her chest. She couldn't believe that the trip to Italy was already over; now they were on their way back to Boulder. And with gold medals around all their necks.

The girls' rankings were superb; well to them at least. Ellen Beals was upset that the Rock girls did so well; because of their success Sasha would be seen as a legit coach again. This was a set back to Beals, but she still believed that she could shut him out; somehow.

The USA placed first in the all-round team; Kaylie placed gold and Lauren bronze for all-round individual. But Emily did place fourth in that; but more importantly she placed bronze on beam, and bars in individual. She placed silver on vault; she was beat out of gold by Kaylie on the apparatus.

Yet Emily was happy with her four medals. It showed her that she was improving and soon she would be the one with all the gold medals. Emily smiled at that thought, which was quickly followed up with thoughts of her coach.

Sasha believed in her, and that meant that Emily believed in her. If Sasha didn't think she could win gold, he wouldn't be training her anymore. Like when he kicked her out after the invitational with Denver.

But he did believe in her and because of that Emily _knew_ she was gold material. Now all she had to do was prove it and then no one would be able to take that away from her.

Emily sighed in contentment as she snuggled into her pillow. It was going to be a long flight, but she didn't mind. Once they reached Boulder, she was going to show her coach her appreciate. Emily suppressed a chuckle as she thought about the look on his face when she showed him that appreciation.

The Rock girls piled out of the bus that was pulled in front of the Rock. Each of their parents were in the parking lots, smiling and waiting for the girls to come forward.

Tiredness was so heavy in Emily, that she was afraid she might actually collapse. The past few days had been brutal on her. Yet the weight of the medals around her neck made the exhaustion welcomed.

"Emily! Oh, I'm so proud of you baby!" Chloe said, clasping her in a tight hug. Emily tried to hug her back, but she could barely lift her arms to encircle her mother.

"Hey mom. Man I am tired; are we headed home now? I think I could sleep for a week." Emily said, moving to put her gym bag in the car. She turned to see the other girls in like situations, chatting with their families.

"Well, Sasha wanted to speak with you tonight. He has had dinner catered and is going to have it at the Rock. We're all invited and I think that we should go." Chloe said, smiling at Emily.

"Oh…right now? I really need a shower and maybe a nap." Emily said, rolling her shoulders, trying to ease the strain.

"No tonight. There's still enough time for you to shower and nap. We'll just head home now and then we'll come back tonight for dinner. Although I think that we should dress up for it; it is kind of like a recognition dinner for you girls' accomplishments. So how about we stop by a dress store and pick you up a new outfit before we head home?"

"Yea sure, I guess. But nothing really fancy; I mean it's only dinner." Emily waved at the others before getting into her mom's car. She closed her eyes and was already headed towards sleep when her mom pulled out of the parking lot.

The Rock began to fill up with the gymnasts and their parents. Sasha felt a little bad about not inviting all the gymnasts, but he wanted tonight to be special for the girls who were on the National Team. He wanted to show them how proud he was and how much their triumph meant to him.

He scanned the room, seeing the Kmetkos enter, Emily pushing Brian. He was glad he had extended the invitation to their whole families, since tonight was about them. He nodded at Kim, who was busy finishing up. She had had a large table placed in the center of the room, with all the equipment moved to the sides.

The projector screen was pulled down and was showing clips of all the girls during the meet against Rome. Some of the pictures were of before the meet, when the girls were talking and stretching, during the meet, and after when they were grinning and holding their medals. Sasha saw the last of the invites arrive and headed down.

"Thank you all for coming. I am so pleased with the successes of your daughters. I wanted tonight to be about the girls and I wanted to let them know how much they mean to the gym and to their families. Now if you will give your attention to the parents." Sasha said, stepping down from the podium.

Each of the girls' parents got up to the podium, where they bragged about their daughter's accomplishments.

Emily tried to pay attention to the parents' speeches, but she couldn't keep her eyes off of Sasha, who was standing off to the side. She relished in the sight of him and the heat that spiraled down her spine at his proximity. Being away from him had been harder than she would have imagined, especially since the development of feelings for him was still new.

Sasha, for his part, was trying to ignore the searching looks he kept getting from Emily. He had promised himself that after the phone call that he would finally put an end to the thoughts Emily had. He couldn't let this infatuation continue; both of their obsessions needed to end.

Emily was pulled out of her thoughts when Sasha rose from his seat to once again stand at the podium. He smiled his crooked smile at them before he began to speak.

"I am so proud of our girls and all they've done. Kaylie and Lauren both medaled in the all-round, with Emily coming in close at number four. I know that the National Committee, and even the world, was shocked at the results of the invitational; but I was not.

"I know that we have the best gymnasts in the US, and some of the best in the world. I know that our girls are going to do amazing in the future and are all going to the Olympics.

"Now I have ordered dinner for everyone and I want you all to enjoy yourselves and rest. Practice starts at 5 am tomorrow morning." Sasha said, giving a small grin at the groans from the girls. He stepped down from the podium and walked out of the gym.

Emily frowned as she watched Sasha leave. She thought that he would have eaten with them, with him being the coach and everything. She turned back to her mom and friends, trying to pay attention to what they were saying. She would just have to find a time to talk to him when he couldn't run away from her.


	8. Chapter 8

AN: FINALLY A CHAPTER! I know I know, it has been way over due. And I am sorry for that I started university and I have very little time to do anything but study. I am sorry for this chapter, it is short and did not go into the detail I wanted, but I was stuck on it for months so I just wrote enough to get out of this funk so I can continue. I can't believe the new season is starting already, but my story is still going to be on my timeline, not theirs. Well I hope you enjoy it and I will hopefully be able to write more now that I have gotten over this chapter. Please read and review.

**Chapter edited.**

Emily sighed in impatiens as she lay under her covers. She had gone through the motions of going to bed but she was actually waiting for her mother to fall asleep so that she could sneak out of the house. She had been laying there for the past twenty minutes and as the time passed by, Emily got more and more frustrated with her mom.

Finally, after what seemed like an hour, Chloe stopped moving around her room and the house was silent. Emily grinned to herself before quickly jumping from the bed, where she neatly made it and grabbed a pen and paper to leave her mom a note. It was unlikely that Chloe would discover she was gone before the morning, so Emily wrote her a note saying she left early for practice and left it on her pillow.

Grabbing her gym bag she stuffed a change of clothes and a practice leo into the bag before grabbing the toiletry bag from her luggage. Emily made sure she had everything she would need before turning to change back into the dress she had worn to the dinner.

It was relatively simple, white with black trim and a bow in the front. But she liked the way it clung to her, even with her slight curves. And since her curves were so slight, Emily wore only panties under the dress.

Emily combed through her hair and checked herself in the mirror. She knew that because of her gymnastics that she didn't have a body many guys would fantasize about, but she would just work harder to make _him_ want her more.

Emily smiled at herself before grabbing lip gloss out of her mother's purse and applying it, liking the flush it put on her lips. Emily carefully replaced her mother's stuff before grabbing her house keys and bag and heading out.

Because she hadn't wanted to wake her family, Emily had to wait till she was out of the house before calling a taxi. She could have jogged to the gym, but she didn't want to be sweating when she was talking with Sasha. Now all she had to do was wait for the taxi and convince Sasha that they could make a relationship work.

Emily grabbed her bag and stepped out of the taxi. She clutched it to her, trying to draw courage from the item. She walked towards the trailer, trying to get her breathing under control. Planning out the trip to Sasha's and actually doing it were two completely different things.

Emily took a deep breath, calming herself as she approached the dark trailer. She was determined to get her way and Sasha was just going to have to give into her because she was not going to leave without him kissing her.

Emily bit her lip before opening the screen door and knocking. She made sure that her knocks were heavy and loud, knowing that Sasha was probably asleep. A few moments went by and she was about to knock again when a light came on. Emily took a deep breath and clutched her bag to herself as the door slowly opened.

"Emily, what are you doing here? It's almost midnight and you have practice in the morning." Sasha said, leaning against the door frame as he stared down at her.

He would not admit to himself that he was pleased to see her, especially since she was back in the dress she had worn to dinner. The same dress that had kept his attention throughout the gathering, until he had to flee so as not to embarrass himself. The dress that accented Emily's slim frame, making her appear fragile and girly.

"Um…I needed to talk to you and I wanted to make sure that we were alone so we could speak openly." Emily said, tightening her hands on her bag. She was not going to let him intimidate her into not saying what she needed to. Emily was determined to get her thoughts and feelings out in the open and she was even more determined to know Sasha's.

"Well I'm sure whatever you need to talk about can wait and we can speak tomorrow in my office. Now if you don't mind I'm going to go to bed and you're going to go home." Sasha started to close the door but Emily stuck her hand out and stopped it from closing in her face.

"No Sasha! We are going to talk now. You've been avoiding me and this talk for too long and I'm tired of trying to find ways to get your attention. So just get over it and be the adult you claim to be." Emily almost snarled. Sasha raised an eyebrow at her tone, not believing that she would speak to him like that.

"Ms. Kmetko I don't know how they conducted themselves in the public gyms, but a gymnast doesn't take that tone with their coach. I _don't _know what you want to speak to me about and I have been busy_, _what with needing to keep the Rock on top. You're not the only gymnast in the gym and everyone deserves to have their coach's attention as well. So have a good night and I expect you in the gym at 5."

"Jeez will you just stop Sasha. You know exactly what I want to talk to you about and you need to stop trying to avoid things. And you saying I think I deserve more than the others is ridiculous and you know it. Now are we going to have this discussion outside or inside?" Emily huffed, her irritation level skyrocketing. She was fed up with Sasha and his behavior. _And he calls himself the adult. Ha!_

"Emily, please…this conversation cannot happen. I am your coach and you are my gymnast, not to mention you are only sixteen. Nothing good can come from this so why don't you just go home and I'll act like this never happened." Sasha sighed, rubbing his eyes. He could not afford to let their professional relationship change into anything different.

"Sasha, please, I know you feel something for me. You've confirmed that and you just expect me to let it go? I can't do that…not with me having the same feelings. I know you're going to say it's wrong, but I don't think it is. And I'm almost seventeen and I'm mature, so I don't see what the big deal is."

"The big deal is that anything but a professional relationship is inappropriate and could get me into trouble. I'm twice your age Emily. If anything were to get out, I could end up in jail and labeled a pervert. Do you really want me to spend the next few years of my life behind bars for being attracted to a minor?"

"I think you're over doing it a bit. C'mon Sasha, you know that you want to see where this could go. And it's not like we would tell anyone. So as long as we were careful, I don't see the problem." Emily said, stepping closer to the door, staring up at him with her most 'come here' look.

"Emily…I can't act on these feelings and you are making this too complicated for me. I have to be your coach, and that's all. Why can't you understand that?"

"I can't understand it because I think that we would have something great together and I can't understand why you don't want to discover if that's true. You just want to avoid it and pretend like there is nothing between us, but you're just in denial. I can't…don't want to fight it." Emily said, stepping closer to the open doorway. She reached out and took his hand, loving the way his long fingers enclosed hers.

Sasha stared down at her, trying to keep a tight hold on his resolve. He knew he shouldn't give into the feelings swirling through him, yet he couldn't help but want to. He wanted to pull her against him and devour her. _So what is stopping you? _

Sasha pulled on Emily's hand, walking back so that she could step up into the trailer. He let her hand go and shut the door before turning to look at her. Emily leaned against the table, waiting for him to start.

She was dressed in an almost sheer white dress that complemented her petite curves, drawing his eyes down her lean body. Slowly raising his eyes back up to her face, Sasha was greeted with a shy smile.

Emily smiled at Sasha before she slowly walked over to him, taking his hand in hers. She titled her head back, peering up at him through her lashes. Sasha lifted his other hand to her face, lightly running his fingers over her cheek before they dropped to her neck, where he cupped the back and brought her lips up to meet his own.

Emily sighed into his lips and wrapped her arms around his neck, bringing her body flush against his. The kiss was deeper than their previous short kiss and Emily swore she could feel it to the tips of her toes.

She nearly moaned when Sasha's tongue swept over her bottom lip, asking for entrance, which was readily granted. Emily groaned as the taste of Sasha filled her mouth, her senses acutely attuned to the man.

Sasha slid his hands down her back to her hips, where he grabbed onto and pulled Emily even closer to him. He couldn't think, couldn't really process what they were doing; all Sasha could seem to do was to give into the animalist hunger that was surging through his body, demanding that he make Emily his.

"Oh god." Emily groaned as she broke the kiss, the need for oxygen unbearable.

She shivered as Sasha moved his lips down, kissing a path down her cheek until he came to her neck, where began to suck, wanting to brand her. Emily leaned her head to the side to give him better access as she ran her hands through his hair before moving them down his body, trying to get as much skin contact as possible.

She pulled at his shirt until Sasha left her neck to pull the shirt over his head. Emily moaned before pulling his face back down to hers, molding their lips together until one could not tell where the other began or ended.

Sasha ran his hands down Emily's body, taking a hold of her hips again, but this time lifting her until she wrapped those sensual limbs around his waist, bringing their centers together.

He tightened his grip when her hot core ground against his straining erection; it was so hot that he could feel it through the two layers of fabric separating them. He turned to press her against the door, using it to keep them both upright so he could slide his hands under her dress and up, stroking the smooth skin he found.

Breaking the kiss, Emily lightly bit at his bottom lip before pulling at her dress, trying to get it off. She finally succeeded, leaving her clad in only her panties.

Sasha's breath seemed to hitch in his throat as he was granted the sight of her small, perky breasts, their nipples like pebbles and pointed straight at him. He latched onto her right bud, swirling his tongue around the hardened flesh, eliciting a moan from Emily as she pushed her chest out, trying to give him as much access to her body as she could.

"God Sasha that feels…hmm…"

_She's only sixteen…_Sasha jerked back with the thought, not believing that he had a half-naked teenager pressed up against the door like a common prostitute.

"Emily we can't do this. You're only sixteen and your first time should be with someone else, someone your own age." Sasha murmured, trying to unclasp her legs from around his waist. Emily just held him tighter to her, proving she was a gymnast in her prime as her legs were like iron shackles, not budging.

"Sasha if you don't keep kissing me I am going to tie you down and make you kiss me. I am a fully consenting party and I want you. Can't you feel that? Don't you want me?" Emily asked, grabbing his hand and placing it against her center.

Sasha groaned as his fingers touched the soaked cotton, where he could feel the shape of her because the material was clinging to her. He looked into her eyes, trying to see any doubt or fear, but he only saw lust and need.

With the last responsible thoughts fleeing his mind, Sasha grabbed her thighs to support her and walked them to his bed, where he would show her how much he wanted her.


	9. Chapter 9

AN: I AM SOOOOOOOO SORRY! I have been so busy that I haven't even been able to think straight. I went from spring semester courses straight into two history maymester classes and now I'm taking two more. There's been drama with my mother and I have not had the time to write. I hope you like this chapter; it's really just to get the ball rolling. I am going to try to have the next couple of chapters up in soon. Sorry again! Please review! They make me smile!

**Chapter edited.**

Emily sighed as she slowly opened her eyes, not really wanting to wake up. She wished she could stay in her dreamland where she and her coach were doing all sorts of things, the last one involving the balance beam in an entirely new way.

'_What time is it? Why is the light on?'_

Emily wondered as she moved to stretch her arms, her eyes finally focusing on the shiny metal wall that was in front of her face. Emily stared at the wall, not sure if she should believe her eyes and almost too afraid to turn over.

Yet even as she contemplated her movement, she felt the bed shift behind her, signaling that she indeed was not alone. Swallowing hard against the lump that had formed in her throat, Emily slowly turned her body, gradually moving so she could peer at the person who was in bed with her.

'_OH MY GOD! It is Sasha! That means your weren't dreaming about everything! Holy crap! Oh he is so gorgeous…and naked…which means I'm…oh boy. What do I do?…'_

Emily bit her lip as she gazed at the naked man next to her. She couldn't believe that what she thought had been a dream was actually a memory of what happened the night before. She lifted up the sheet slowly, trying not to wake him; as she lifted it up she peered under it, having to bite her lip once more to stop herself from making any noise.

As she felt her cheeks heat up, Emily lowered the sheet back down, making sure that Sasha was covered before she slithered off the mattress, trying not to wake him. She had a little difficulty since the mattress was put into the wall, so that there was nothing to use for leverage to get off it.

After a successful extraction, tripping only once, Emily tip toed over to the bathroom. She made sure to grab her toiletry bag before sliding the door shut.

Emily stared at her face in the mirror, trying to see if she looked different. She certainly felt different; kinda free or more in control. It was like that one act pushed her over the edge into adulthood. She smiled at herself before looking down, noticing for the first time the smudges that marred her skin.

She had several small bruises and…_love bites! I have love bites!_…on various parts of her body, such as on her thighs and breasts. Her eyes locked onto the bite mark on her right breast, not believing that Sasha had taken such an interest in it. She had thought that her body wouldn't turn him on, but Sasha seemed to get more aroused the more he uncovered.

Emily shrugged, knowing there was nothing she could do about the bruises now. She quickly turned on the faucet and brushed her teeth. She rinsed her mouth out and started the shower so the water could heat up.

Emily scanned the bathroom, looking for a towel so she could wash her body. Even though she hadn't had a hymen to be broken, she still felt dirty from the activities of last night since her inner thighs were a little crusty.

She spotted a stack of towels placed on a rack over the toilet. Grabbing one, she hung it from the hook before stepping into the steaming water.

Smiling to herself, she quickly hoped in the shower, rinsing the remains of their night down the drain. She was delighted to discover that the shower had an extendable showerhead, which she used to clean herself fully.

Emily groaned when the water hit her, making her aware for the first time that she was sore in ways she had never experienced before. She clenched her inner muscles and felt them quiver, having never been used the way they had been the night before.

Not wanting to be caught using up all Sasha's hot water, Emily quickly replaced the showerhead and turned the water off. Grabbing the towel, she dried off before wrapping the towel around herself.

She pulled the rubber band that seemed to always be a constant companion on her wrist and pulled her hair back from her face before leaving the room. She sucked in her breath when she had to walk back to the bed, since Sasha didn't see the wisdom in having carpet outside the bathroom as well. She flicked the light off, plunging the trailer into darkness as there was no sun light outside the windows.

Moving quietly back to the mattress, Emily slowly sat down on the end of it as the reality of her situation finally struck her. She had known before her shower that her and Sasha had indeed done the dirty, but the actuality of it and the fact that there was a naked Sasha behind her caused shivers of fear to run down Emily's back.

Emily clutched the towel closer to her, not sure what she was going to do. She had been dreaming of seducing him for months now, but to know that she had _actually _succeeded was almost more than she could bear.

'_I can't believe I actually slept with Sasha! I'm not a virgin anymore! Oh god, what have I done? Now he's not going to see me seriously…or…or what if he thinks I was bad? Oh what if I was bad at it? Why won't the world just open up and swallow me?'_

Emily twisted her fingers around in nervousness, not sure what she should do. She wanted to crawl back into the bed and snuggle up with Sasha, but what if he didn't want anything to do with her now? It's not like she made it that hard for him to have her…although she did have to work on him letting it happen at all.

'_I just don't know what to do!' _

Emily was about to move to stand, set on escaping the small trailer in favor of the gym, when she felt the bed move again. Emily stayed perfectly still, secure in the knowledge that it was dark so Sasha couldn't possible see her. She was hoping that he would just turn over and go back to sleep. Yet it would seem lady luck was not on her side when Sasha's sleepily husky voice washed over her.

"Emily, why are you awake? There's still a good hour before practice starts." Sasha murmured, rubbing his eyes as he sat up. The trailer was dark so it was difficult for him to see, especially since his eyes had not adjusted yet, but he could feel Emily sitting at the foot of the bed. He knew that they would need to talk and sort everything out, but he really just wanted to have her warm body wrapped around his for a little while longer.

When Emily continued to be silent, Sasha slid to the end of the bed, taking the sheet with him until he was sitting shoulder to shoulder with her. He reached over and found her hand, which trembled in his.

"Do you regret last night?" Sasha whispered, fearful of her answer. Yeah sure, he knew they shouldn't have gotten that carried away, but after months of wanting her, he was having trouble finding the remorse he knew he himself should be feeling. If Emily regretted the night before, Sasha was not sure what he would do.

'_How do you go back to being someone's coach when you've been with them completely?'_

Sasha remained silent, determined to let Emily say what she was really feeling. He would not be the one to push someone into something they weren't ready for, especially not Emily. So he sat there with her hand in his, waiting in the dark for what felt like an hour. Finally Emily's hand tightened in his.

"I was afraid that it would have to be me that was asking that question. I thought…I thought you would regret last night and never want to be with me again. I'm sure I wasn't very good, it being my first time, but I can get better-" Emily was cut off when Sasha's lips found hers, effectively silencing her.

Emily sighed into the kiss and turned her body so she could wrap her free arm around Sasha's neck, trapping their hands between their bodies. She felt elated and filled with an exciting, sizzling emotion that he still wanted her.

Breaking the kiss, Sasha ran his free hand up her back, feeling the terrycloth towel that was protecting her skin from his exploring fingers.

"Emily, I don't regret last night and I don't want to hear any more self-doubt, ok. You were amazing last night." He murmured, leaning in for another kiss. He was surprised when Emily actually pulled away from him.

"I don't want you to get mad or anything, but…you have morning breath." Emily whispered, afraid he would take offense. Sasha pulled back, surprised that he felt himself on the verge of chuckling.

"Well since I can tell you've already used my shower I guess I better go make use of it as well." Sasha stood up, letting the sheet slide off his body. He leaned down kissed Emily on her forehead before making to short trek to his bathroom.

When he turned on the light, Emily was greeted with the sight of his very well-built, and very pale, backside. She bit her lip to keep from giggling, yet when he turned to shut the door, giving her a view of his muscular chest and his semi-erect member, giggling was the last thing on her mind.

"Don't get into too much trouble by yourself." Sasha warned before shutting the door. Emily rolled her eyes at his remark before leaning over to turn the lights back on in the trailer.

She got up, retightening her towel, and went around the small area, picking up her tossed around clothes. She found her dress by the door, _'Where he had you pressed up against it'_, and her underwear were on the far side of the bed against the wall.

Emily tried not to think about the previous night as she picked up her clothes, certain her face was already a tomato. She opened her gym bag and pulled out her underwear, leo, sweats and hoodie before stuffing the two items into the bag.

She was thankful she had decided to pack flip-flops, because going into the gym with flats on would look weird. She laid her clothes out on the table, trying to get the wrinkles out of her leo when the water in the bathroom cut off.

Sasha came out of the bathroom, a towel draped low on his hips and his skin pebbled with water droplets. Emily tried not to stare, but his exposed body was so sculpted that she really just wanted to explore every nook.

'_Preferably with my tongue.'_ Emily shook her head a little and turned back to her clothes, trying to hide the blush she could feel heating her cheeks.

She was startled when two arms warped around her waist and she was pulled back against a damp chest. Sasha started nibbling on her neck, causing Emily to sigh before she turned in his arms so that she was facing him. Emily wrapped her arms around his neck and stepped onto her tiptoes so she could press her lips against his.

Emily sighed into the kiss and ran her tongue across his lips, requesting entrance. Sasha was willing to let her dictate the speed, especially since he had been the one to really set the tempo the night before. He opened his mouth, letting his tongue caress hers in a lazy dance. She brought their bodies flush together, needing to be as close to him as possible.

Sasha ran his hands up her back until he came to the towel, which he tugged on until it slid to the floor. He felt Emily's breath catch in her throat during the kiss, which just spurred him on more.

Breaking the kiss, Sasha lowered his head so he could skim her creamy neck with his lips, lightly nipping at the sensitive skin. Emily moaned and leaned her head back, trying to give him as much space as she could. She would have continued to be in bliss if her core hadn't given a pulse of lust, which caused her to become very aware that her neither regions were extremely tender.

"Sasha, I would love to continue this, really I would. But I don't think…I don't think I could _handle_ it, if you know what I mean." Emily said, her cheeks heating up in embarrassment. Sasha lifted his head to peer at her, a look of confusion on his face. Emily bit her lip and tried to stop her face from blazing.

"I'm very tender…down there…so-" Emily cut herself off, mortified. Sasha's eyes widened and he stepped back.

"Of course, I can't believe I didn't even think about how you were feeling. Go get dressed then sit down and I'll make some breakfast." Emily nodded before grabbing her clothes from the table and went into the bathroom.

Sasha ran his hand through his hair, angry at himself. He couldn't believe he had not even considered how she was feeling. _"It was her first time after all! I'm such a git!'_ Sasha went over to his built in drawers and pulled out his clothes, quickly changing.

Emily came out of the bathroom, zipping up her hoodie. She came to the table and slid onto the bench just as Sasha placed a bowl of Lucky Charms in front of her. She raised a brow at him, knowing that gymnasts were not supposed to have so much sugar. Sasha shrugged and slid in across from her, placing his bowl on the table.

"It's all I have to eat. You'll just have to work out harder today." Sasha said, bringing up a spoonful to his mouth. Emily rolled her eyes, knowing he would say anything to make her work harder.

"So, are you alright? I feel like such a git because I didn't even ask how you were feeling…" Sasha asked.

"Yeah I'm fine Sasha, just a little sore. But…a good type of sore…I can't believe I said that!" Emily covered her face with her hands, mortified. Sasha reached across the table and took one of her hands in his, squeezing it to reassure her.

"Well I should have been more considerate. Are you sure you're ok? Do you need to skip practice today?"

"No Sasha, I'm ok, really. I'll just probably skip beam today, if that's ok?"

"Of course it's ok, I don't want you to hurt yourself."

The two fell into an uneasy silence, both not sure what to say. Emily slowly ate her cereal, not sure what she should say. The awkward silence between the two was getting annoying for her, but she didn't want to say the wrong thing. Emily finished her cereal as Sasha stood up to wash his bowl out and he took up hers as well. Emily clasped her hands together, trying to keep her nerves in check.

"If we are going to pursue this relationship, there has to be some ground rules that have to be in place. First, no one can know about this. I mean _no one,_ Emily." Sasha said as he sat back down at the table, his eyes piercing into her.

"Of course, that is a given. We would both get in trouble if word got out. I'm not an idiot, Sasha."

"I know you're not, and I also trust that you will use your ability to keep secrets to protect us. Also, I need you to forget everything but training when you step into the gym. If I think for a minute that this relationship is causing you to be distracted and making you perform poorly, I will end it, do you understand? There is nothing more important than you medaling at Worlds and going to the Olympics. That is what will separate the true winner from the rest, because they have short-term memories, as I am asking you to have. Forget everything inside the gym, understand?"

"I understand, Sasha. Winning gold is my number one wish in the whole world. I won't let anything get between me and that, I promise. It's too important to me."

"Good, those are the two main rules. You should also begin to eat a proper diet that is high in carbohydrates for energy. I have noticed that many of the Rock gymnasts have begun to slack in their eating and workout routines, something that I will address to the entire gym. But that's not a rule for our relationship; it is a rule for your gymnastics. I don't get how people expect to…never mind. Do you understand the rules?"

"Yes Sasha, I understand. But I also have a…idea that would help us."

"And what would that be?"

"I think you should rent an apartment or a house somewhere. It could get dangerous for us if you stay here because if I'm always coming in and out of your trailer, that would look suspicious. Especially for anyone who comes to the gym early."

"You make a good point. I was also thinking that because it is starting to get cramped in here. I think I would actually like to be able to walk more than three feet without hitting something." Emily smiled at Sasha as he tried to make a joke. She was so full of excitement that she felt like she was going to pop.

'_You're in a relationship with Sasha Belov! A RELATIONSHIP!' _Emily bit her lip as her inner monologue kept repeating the thought like a mantra. She wanted to do a happy dance, but she knew that was not the way to prove to him that she was a mature adult.

"Well I will look for places this Sunday, but right now we need to get into the gym. Practice is going to start soon." Sasha said, getting up to grab his shoes.

Emily walked over to him, where he was sitting on the end of the bed, tying his shoes. She bit her lip before she lightly pressed on his shoulders, making him look up at her.

Emily smiled down at him before she crawled up onto the bed, straddling him so that they were pressed together. Sasha's arms came around her, his hands gripping her hips. Emily slid her hands up into his hair, pulling his head back so that he was looking up at her. She grinned down at him again before she pressed her mouth to his.

The kiss quickly turned passionate as their tongues began to dance, messaging each other. Emily moaned into the kiss, pressing her body even closer to his. By doing so, she rubbed against the bulge that was becoming apparent in his jeans, which caused Sasha to clamp down on her hips to stop her movements. He tore his mouth from hers, breathing in the much needed oxygen while he tried to get control of himself.

"Emily, if you don't stop it we're going to end up making you even sorer." Sasha said. Emily pouted, but knew he was right. She lightly kissed him again before she stood, smirking at the state he was in.

'_I can't believe I just did that! Play it cool, Kmetko! Don't make him think you're a bundle of nerves!'_

"Well I just wanted to remind you of what's waiting at the end of practice. Now come on, you're going to be late." Emily chuckled as she grabbed her bag and walked out of the trailer.

Sasha rubbed a hand over his face before he stood, wincing as his erection rubbed against the material of his boxers. _'What have you gotten yourself into?'_ Sasha shook his head at his thought before grabbing his keys and making his way out to the gym, where Emily was waiting for him.

She gave him a mischievous smile as he unlocked the door before sauntering in front of him, smiling over her shoulder before she disappeared into the dark gym. _'I am so screwed!'_ Sasha thought before entering the gym himself.

PS: Please review! Thanks!


	10. Chapter 10

AN: Ok so I know I messed up a little with the time frame so I am going to make it clear here. World try outs are coming up before the Brazil meet. Then it's off to Worlds, which is two months away. Also, I guess Worlds is during January so that the medalists are champions for the following year. So please disregard that I had Emily standing outside in a dress. I didn't know that the time frame would be around the end of October. My bad. Be warned that this chapter is very long. And I am having their practice end at 3 because I think that that is a very long practice 5-3. Well I hope you enjoy and please review.

**Chapter edited.**

Payson yawned as she came into the gym, still exhausted from the hardcore training she had done the day before. While on most days she didn't mind coming to the gym before the sun had even risen, today was not one of them.

She noticed that Emily was once again already on the mats, where she was stretching. _'Why is she always the first one here?'_ Payson shrugged at her own question before going to her locker to put her bag and clothes away.

"Hey, Emily." Payson said as she sat down, slowly working her muscles so that she didn't pull something while stretching. Emily smiled at her before she stood.

"Hey Payson, how's it going? I don't know about you but I am so tired! I feel like I ran a marathon." Emily sighed as she pulled her arm to the side, stretching out the muscles. Payson nodded as she went into a split.

"Yeah, I feel that way too. And I'm not even sure why. I mean practice was hard yesterday but I should be used to it."

"Well how's your back? We haven't really talked about it, but I imagine it would still cause you pain, even with the surgery."

"Yeah, it does. I thought that it would just fix everything and it would be like the injury never happened. But my back is still sore and does cause pain, but it's nothing like what it was before my fall. I can work through this pain without drugs, so I'm happy."

"Man that sucks Pay, I'm sorry. I wished there was something I could do to help you."

"It's not your fault, Emily. You didn't make me decided gymnastics was the thing I wanted to do with my life. We have to accept that injuries are a part of the sport. I mean, I don't know any gymnast that hasn't had one major injury, if not more."

"Well, I've never had one."

Payson raised her eyes to peer at Emily, not sure if she believed her ears. Not having an injury by one's teens was almost unheard of in their sport.

"Don't look at me like that. I'm serious! I guess because I've only ever really trained in public gyms and playgrounds, I never had the hard edge training. I don't know." Emily shrugged before smiling and walking off, ready to begin her day.

"What's got you so perplexed, Pay?" Kaylie asked as she and Lauren sat down to do their warm-ups. She tried to ignore the pounding in her head that was a result of another fight her parents had had.

She thought that they would work things out, but as the marriage counseling continued, Kaylie began to have less and less hope of a reunion. She thought that they would stay together because of her gymnastics, but that too seemed to be a bleak possibility.

"What? Oh nothing, I was just talking to Emily. Did you know that she's never had a serious injury before?" Payson said, turning to the two girls.

"That's surprising, but I guess when you train at _public _gyms, you're not as dedicated to the sport." Lauren said, stretching her thighs by touching her toes. Payson and Kaylie bother looked at each other before they rolled their eyes, too used to Lauren's bitchyness to let it affect them.

"Well good for her. Hopefully she can keep it that way, but I wouldn't hold my breath." Kaylie said, standing to move over to the chalk box. The other two joined her as they watched Emily stand at the end of the runway for the vault before she began to run. The girls observed as Emily executed a perfect double yurchenko, landing without even a slight wavier.

"She's gotten really good at that. I wonder if that will be enough to beat China?" Lauren said. She didn't like admitting that someone was better at something than her, but Emily had the vault locked down. She would just have to make sure that her beam blew everyone away.

"I don't know, but we should start our own practices. The gym is starting to fill up and I want to have a go at the bars before they get over crowded." Payson said, turning away from vault to the bars.

Kaylie and Lauren rolled their eyes at Payson's no nonsense attitude. They both walked off to floor, where they could talk with the pretense of practice before they really had to get to work.

"Can I please have your attention? Everyone please gather round." Sasha said as he stood on the balcony outside the office. The gymnasts stopped their warm-ups and routines to slowly make their way to stand in front of their head coach.

"I have come to the realization that many of you have started to become slack in your dedication to the sport. I am not sure what gave you the thought that you can eat whatever you want or not condition your bodies, but I am putting a stop to it right now.

"From now on, for two hours a day, every day, we are going to condition. Every single one of you is expected to perform these and the type of conditioning is going to be specific to your ranking level and ages. The assistant coaches have their instructions on who is to do what exercises and when to do them.

"Also, I expect all of you to get back onto a strict eating routine. Not all of you are at the elite level yet, but I am determined that each of the gymnasts in this gym will be able to reach that level. It is not up to the female gymnasts to hold this gym above water.

"It is up to all of us and I am going to make sure that the Rock is ranked number one in the USA on all levels. Now, if you will please separate into your age groupings, the assistant coaches will be coming around to give you your new schedule. Then they will start your conditionings."

Sasha finished before he stepped back into the office. The gymnasts did as they were told and were quickly given their instructions.

Lauren groaned when she read the workouts they were going to have to do, turning to Kaylie to share her pain. The Rock girls (this is what I am going to call them when referring to the four girls) took up their spots on the floor mat, where they were to do 50 sprints.

"I can't believe this! It's not like we're in the Army or anything. This is like the day after the kegger all over again." Lauren said as they prepared to do the sprints. The other girls nodded before they all began.

_2 Hours Later_

"I think my arms are going to fall off." Emily said as she slumped onto the ground next to Payson, who was currently lying down on her back. Kaylie and Lauren were also in various stages of lying on the floor.

"I can't believe he wants us to do this every day. And right before Worlds tryouts! I mean, that's just crazy right? What if we pull something or other? I think he's lost his mind." Lauren said, her arm thrown over her eyes.

"Well I expect that in a week you will be used to the conditioning and I expect you to do them because I am your coach and I am in charge." Sasha's voice cut across the circle.

The girls all popped up, the thought of Sasha having heard them sending fear shooting threw them. He was standing next to the mat, his arms crossed over his chest as he stared down at them.

'_Oh he is so sexy! That's how he looked last night when he stood over me…_

_Sasha lowered Emily down onto the mattress, enjoying the way her small breasts swayed with the movement. He stared down at her as she twitched under his gaze, obviously nervous and self-conscious. She was about to cover her exposed chest, when Sasha reached down and stilled her hands._

"_Don't, Emily, you are so beautiful," Sasha murmured, moving her hands back down to her sides. _

_Emily sucked in her breath, trying to keep her nerves in check. It was one thing to fantasize about seducing a man; it was an entirely different matter to be half-naked in front of said man. _

_Sasha knelt on the bed, hovering over her before he lowered his mouth down to hers for a passionate kiss. Emily moaned into the kiss as she gave herself over to his capable hands, wrapping her arms around his back to pull him down on top of her. _

_She experienced, for the first time, the exciting and comforting feeling of having a man's weight pressing down on her. She ran her hands over his back, trailing along the defined muscles as they continued to kiss. She made a sound of protest when Sasha ended the kiss._

_He moved his lips down to her neck, lightly pressing kisses to the sensitive skin until Emily thought her heart was going to leap out of her chest. When she was going to make a comment about moving on, Sasha increased the pressure of his lips, sucking on different patches of skin. When he latched on to the area behind Emily's ear, she nearly jumped off the bed. _

_Sasha moved down her body, conscious to the fact that he did not want to leave marks on her neck, since it was an area that would be visible. He instead moved his attention to her breasts, where he slowly began to run his hands lightly on the outer curves, sending shivers over Emily's body. _

_Emily sighed before shifting, trying to get his wandering fingers to go to the center of her breasts, where her nubs felt neglected and tight. Sasha evaded her attempts, however, and continued to tease her, lightly trailing his lips in the wake of his hands. _

_Emily groaned and ran her fingers into his hair, her back arching as Sasha's light ministrations began to ignite a fire in her groin._

"_Sasha, please stop teasing me!" Emily murmured, the new sensations in her body almost more than she could bear._

"_You'll learn to be patient," Sasha responded before drawing her arms up over her head, where he kept them captive in one of his hands. _

_Emily squirmed, trying to get more comfortable in her new position, which had the side effect of rubbing against the very pronounced bulge in Sasha's pants. His grip tightened for a brief moment as he bit down on his control, determined to set the pace._

_Once his control was back under wraps, Sasha lowered his head again to her breasts, this time going straight to her nipples. Emily jerked and moaned at the first contact, the heat of his mouth shocking her and causing a sizzle to run from her pebbled flesh, down to her center. _

_When Sasha began to suck, lightly grazing his teeth against the raised nub every few seconds, Emily shuddered and let out a cry of pleasure; so overwhelmed with the electricity zapping through her body that she gave up complete control, her arms relaxing as she gave herself completely over to Sasha. As she let herself be consumed, Emily knew that her life would never be the same again._

'_No, stop it Emily! You can't be thinking that during practice!' _Emily tried to shake her thoughts as his eyes pierced into her, knowing that if he got just one clue about her thoughts that she would be in trouble. Rule number two was to keep her mind focused on training while in the gym!

"Sorry Sasha, we were just…overwhelmed for a moment. It won't happen again." Kaylie said, standing up from the mat, trying not to wince as her muscles tightened. The other girls also stood, so that they were side by side, a united front.

"It will get easier, I promise. And it shouldn't even be that painful since it's nothing more than what elite gymnasts as supposed to do to keep their bodies in shape. It's not all about performing tricks, as you all should know.

"But the real reason I am pushing you girls in particular is that with World tryouts coming up, the National Committee, by which I mean Ellen Beals, is holding a practice to determine who will go to tryouts. And a lot of that practice is on how conditioned the gymnasts are. They don't want ones that can't hold a hand stand for more than a minute."

"We understand Sasha. And we're sorry that we were complaining. We know, all of us, that you know what's best," Payson said, getting nods from the others.

"Good. Now speaking of tryouts, I have news. Worlds are about more than technique, it's about grace and beauty. For this reason, I've hired a choreographer to work with the four of you specifically to get you ready for Worlds. The routines she is going to work on with you are going to be floor and beam, where choreography is used."

"Wait Sasha, why am I going? I'm not on the National Team," Payson said.

"Because I want you to petition the National Committee to allow you to try out for the Worlds team. I believe that you are ready and close to being fully prepared." Sasha said. Payson stared at him agape, while the other girls made excited noises and began hugging her.

'_Teenage girls! What a headache!…And you got yourself involved with one. Good going!'_ Sasha shook his head at both his thoughts and the girls' antics.

He caught Emily's eyes, which were sparkling with happiness, and he wanted to pull her against him and devour her. He turned slightly away, so that he could have a minute to collect himself before he addressed the girls once more.

"The woman will be here momentarily and I have arranged for you to practice in the annex building. She will be working with you one by one so the others can continue to practice their other routines. Now I expect all of you to be dedicated to this new choreography, even if it is not what you are used to. Also, if I find that you are spending your time ogling the men in the annex building I will be very disappointed, do you understand?"

"Yes, of course Sasha. We can't thank you enough for all you've done to help us." Emily murmured, her voice going slightly husky at the ending.

The other girls didn't seem to notice, but Sasha did and he was not happy that she did not appear to be able to keep her head straight. He was about to pull her aside to tell her so when she seemed to snap out of her inner thoughts and smiled at him before turning away, walking over to the chalk box. He shook his head before he bid the other girls to get warmed back up before heading over to help the other gymnasts.

'_I don't know what I've gotten myself into. Did I make a huge mistake like I thought this would be?'_ Sasha continued to contemplate his predicament as he stepped up to spot a young girl on bars.

The Rock girls were at the water tank, chugging down the cool liquid, when Sasha walked over to them, a woman in toe. Lauren's eyes widened when she recognized the choreographer, who was the best in the business.

"Girls, if I can have your attention. This is Lacey Grimes, your new choreographer. She has agreed to work with each of you for an hour a day for the next week. She is going to make sure your floor routines are in order for the National Team practice and World's tryouts. I will leave you to work out who will be practicing first, but the other three should go about their routines. I want all of you to be flawless when Beals shows up." Sasha said before stepping away, moving over to speak with an assistant coach.

"Good morning ladies. Now I have watched footage of each of your floor routines from Nationals to try and get a sense of what your styles are. I will try to stay as true to your individualism as possible. Let's get started! I have decided to work with first Kaylie, than Lauren, Payson and Emily will be last. C'mon Ms. Cruz, the clock is ticking." Lacey finished before turning to where Sasha had told her the entrance to the annex building was.

Kaylie followed her as she exited the main building and walked over to the next, where they could see male gymnasts working on the parallel bars, high bars and more rings through the windows.

'_Don't get distracted Kaylie! You learned your lesson with Carter. No more boys! But they are cute…and built…and sweaty…STOP! NO MORE BOYS!' _Kaylie silently berated herself as Lacey moved to where there had been placed huge mat for floor. She rifled through her bag before she pulled out a stack of cds, popping on into the stereo.

"Now I want you to…"

'_What am I going to do for three hours? I wasn't going to do beam because of my…soreness…but now what else am I going to do? Time is moving so slow! I just want it to be 3 o'clock already!'_ Emily's inner monologue continued as she made her way to the beam, where Lauren was doing her "sizzle" routine. Emily thought she put too much emphasis on being sexy, but she did acknowledge that Lauren did it really well.

Lauren dismounted flawlessly before turning towards Emily, smug to see her watching her, as if in envy.

"Not everybody can do what I can do, so don't feel bad. I'm sure you'll do decently on the beam." Lauren said before sauntering over to the chalk box.

Emily rolled her eyes, knowing that Lauren was just trying to make her doubt herself. Girls like her focused most of their energy on getting into the competition's head, but Emily was too determined not to let it bother her. She centered herself before she did a split mount onto the beam, almost groaning out loud when her inner muscles stretched.

'_I can do this! I can do this! It's just a little soreness, no big deal. Gymnasts have performed with broken bones!' _Emily tried to reassure herself, but as she went into a split ¾ she felt herself wavering, until she jumped off the beam to avoid falling off.

She clenched her teeth and noticed that Lauren was smirking at her, thinking she had gotten to her. Emily gritted her teeth and mounted the beam again, determined to succeed in her routine, no matter how many times she had to do it.

_3 Hours Later_

Emily performed her dismount triple twist from the bars, landing, having to take a step forward to center herself. She was going to chalk up for another round when Lacey came walking towards her.

"Hey Emily, it's your-" Lacey was interrupted when a chime went out over the intercom. She raised a questioning brow at Emily, who smiled and explained that it was the bell to let everyone know they had an hour for lunch.

"Well, we'll do your routine when you get back. I'll just go grab something to eat myself." Lacey said, walking back to the annex building to grab her bag.

Emily walked over to the bathroom, where she washed her hands and ran a scented baby wipe over her body, trying to get any sweat or smell off. She exited the bathroom, going to her locker where she pulled on her sweats and hoodie, sliding into her flip flops and grabbed her wallet before walking over to Payson, who was shrugging her jacket on.

"Do you want to go get something to eat? I'm starving." Emily said, smiling at the only girl she really considered her friend. Kaylie and Lauren were more teammates than friends, especially Lauren, who only ever looked out for herself. Payson, though, had helped her get over her fear of the blind landing on vault and she seemed to genuinely care about others.

"Yea sure, I'm hungry too. That work with Lacey was grueling. There's this substation around the block; they're really good and they have all their calories and ingredients listed so you know what you are eating. Let me go tell my mom before we go." Payson and Emily headed over to the office, where Kim Keeler was speaking with someone on the phone.

The two girls waited for her to finish; Sasha chose that moment to come back into the office, making Emily jump slightly when his arm brushed against hers. She couldn't feel the skin contact because of her hoodie, but Emily swore the place on her arm that had touched his was on fire.

"Mom, Emily and I are going to go to the Sub Station, is that all right?"

"Yeah that's fine. Here's twenty dollars; do you think you could take your sister?"

"Oh, Becca already left with a group of girls. Thanks mom, we'll be back in an hour." Payson said before she walked out of the office.

Emily lingered for just a moment, having caught the green gaze of her coach. She bit her lip as that stare, just a stare, sent her body in to electric mode. She smiled at Kim before dashing out of the office, desperately needing to either be away from Sasha, or to drag him to the floor and devour him.

'_Running away seems like the better option right now.'_ Emily rolled her eyes at her own thought before meeting up with Payson at the door. The two girls exited the building, making their way down the block.

"So I have a question for you Emily." Payson said as she wiped her mouth, grabbing her glass of water to take a sip before peering at her friend.

"Ok what's your question?"

"Well, it's just that something seems different about you. I don't know, something in your routines is off and I was just wondering if you wanted to talk about it."

Emily chocked on her water, almost spraying the liquid at her lunch buddy. She quickly swallowed, trying to hide the coughing fit that accompanied the chocking. She finally cleared her throat and took a small sip of water, trying to cool her throat. She looked up at Payson, who was watching her with concern.

"Different…nothing's different. I just pulled something, so I'm a little sore. No big."

"Really? Because you just chocked when I asked you about it. That looks like you do have something that you either hiding or ashamed of. I don't want to pry, because that's not the type of person I am, but just be careful. If you're doing something that will harm your gymnastics than I would suggest stopping."

"Oh, no, it's just a strained muscle. Nothing to worry about." Emily said before stuffing her mouth full of sandwich, clearly indicating that the discussion was over. Payson watched her for a moment, knowing that she was hiding something, but she shrugged before going back to her own meal.

Emily followed Lacey into the annex building, where the guys were once more working up a sweat. She saw a guy she thought was named David flip end over end before landing on his feet, solid as a rock. She shook her head before walking over to Lacey, who was putting a cd into the stereo.

She was surprised that the music that came out of the speakers was actually something she could get into. Lacey laughed at Emily's expression, before she motioned for Emily to take her stand at the corner of the mat.

"Despite what people might think, judges are no longer looking for a girl who has a routine to classical music. The classics are good for in state or national competitions, but international judges are looking for music that has good beats than accentuate your moves. Now, we're going to work on the actual dance routine before we put in your tricks." Lacey said and walked Emily through her new floor choreography.

Emily nodded, knowing that the two weeks before World's tryouts were going to be brutal. She clutched her desire close to her as she began mimicking Lacey, determined that she would make the World's team.


	11. Chapter 11

AN: Hey guys, sorry for the late posting. Thanks to those of you that have reviewed. I don't have internet at my house so I can only post every now and again. But this chapter is mainly a smut chapter. Please keep in mind that it's not the best scene I've ever written, but I can't seem to get a good one put down on the computer. In future chapters I will do better, promise. Now I know I probably confused you guys, so here's what's going on. Emily and Sasha are now a couple. It is the night before the Worlds Team tryouts and thus has been two weeks since the previous chapter. I am putting the timeline at the end of October. Please Review! Let me know what you guys think.

**Chapter edited. **

Emily sighed against Sasha's chest as the credits to _Legion _began to roll.

"Well, I thought that was…very bad. I saw that ending coming. The only thing that was interesting was the angels' wings." Sasha murmured as he flicked the TV off with the remote.

"Yeah, I get to pick out the next movie. Although to be fair, that old lady was kind of creepy, mostly because it was an old lady." Emily said, snuggling deeper into his chest, wrapping her arms around his hard stomach.

It still amazed her that this specimen of physical perfection was hers. She felt as if the last two weeks had been a dream and Emily was terrified she was going to wake up and find it all had been a fantasy.

"Fine, but nothing too girly. I would like to keep my dinner down."

"So I take it that means no _Letters to Juliet _or something like that?" Emily asked, biting her lip to keep the giggles back at the horrified look that crossed Sasha's face.

"Absolutely not. Those movies are not allowed anywhere near my gym." Sasha said, squeezing her for emphasis.

Emily tried to fight them, but with Sasha's look of determination that any romantic movies would not make it into the gym was too much for her and she started to giggle. Sasha stared down at her, watching as Emily buried her face in his shirt, trying to stifle her laughter. Sasha would not allow for his own mirth to show, since he was dead serious about those blasted movies.

"Think this is funny, do you?"

"I…sorry…but…your f…face" Emily tried to get out, but the glare he sent her made her start giggling more. She pushed off of him, clutching her stomach as she tried to fight the giggle fit she was having.

It was strange, she hadn't really laughed or giggled or chuckled or anything in so long, that it felt almost bizarre to be stuck in such a cycle. She always had to be the mature one, the one who paid the bills and supported her family; but now she could be a little freer, a little more carefree. She had just caught her breath when she let out a shriek as Sasha lifted her from the couch, carrying her over to the office chair.

Sasha sat down in the chair and laid Emily over his lap, which cut her laughter off immediately. He smirked to himself as he slowly felt along her backside, tracing the cotton clad curves.

"Sasha, what are you doing? You know I was only teasing. I won't pick any chick flicks, I promise." Emily said, trying to lift her head so she could peer at him.

Sasha put pressure on her neck so that her pursuit was cut off and Emily had to let her head hang down, staring at the floor. She felt her body flush with embarrassment as she laid over her boyfriend's, her coach's, lap with her ass in the air.

"I think a little reminder that I am your coach is needed, don't you Emily? I would hate for you to forget that." Sasha said, raising his hand about a foot away from her bum and bringing it back down, enjoying the way Emily jerked and let out a groan.

WHACK!

He wasn't a sadist, but he was discovering that as he continued to reprimand her, he was becoming turned on. On his sixth spank, three on each cheek, he left his hand on her butt, slowly massaging the sore cheeks.

Emily sighed, taking his actions as the sign that her punishment was over. She knew that she got off easy, but her butt was still stinging; although his massaging fingers were quickly causing her body to heat with desire instead of mortification.

"Let this be a reminder that you are to listen and not make fun of me." Sasha said, standing so he could set her on the desk.

Emily stared up into his eyes, still not believing that he had actually spanked her. She wasn't sure if she would be able to look at anyone in the office again without thinking about this instance, where she had been spread across her coach's lap while he spanked her.

"You know I wasn't making fun of you. Your facial expression just made me laugh." Emily said, her voice indicating how put out she was that she had been punished for something she thought was a moment of good humor.

Sasha ran his hands down her arms to her legs, where he spread them so he could stand between them, nestled against her and the desk. Emily's breath caught as he pressed himself against her, her heart picking up a faster beat.

"Oh I know. And I'm not even upset; I actually like to see you so cheery. It's not often that I get to see you smile like that. But, I've been thinking about these tight pants since you walked into the gym tonight." Sasha said, tracing patterns up and down her legging clad thighs. Emily's eyes, which had started to shut with the mesmerizing design he was drawing across her thighs, jerked back open, and her mouth falling agape.

"What? You just spanked me for no reason?" Emily said, her voice rising with indignation. She started to push against his chest, determined to stomp out of the office. Sasha chuckled and trapped her hands in one of his, using the other to skim her face.

"Maybe I stepped out of bounds, but you've been teasing me with these pants all night. Bending over to put the DVD in the player, or pick up a napkin. You know what you've been doing, and you can't get mad at me for my reaction." Sasha said, his voice going deep with lust.

Emily squirmed under his gaze, knowing that he was speaking the truth. She had bought these leggings specifically because the girls had said they made her legs look extremely long, while accentuating the slight curve of her ass. _'Well I guess it worked enough of an accentuation because apparently it's held Sasha's attention.'_

"Well I'm always happy to be of…service." Emily murmured, her voice husky as she pushed her body forward, so that it ground against his erection.

Sasha's free hand gripped her shoulder as electricity shot through his body. He skimmed his eyes down her figure, feeling himself tighten even more. Her outfit consisted of an eggplant colored top with a matching tank top underneath, and dark grey cotton/spandex leggings with black flats (I got the outfit from Victoria's Secret). Her hair was left down to frame her face. Sasha wasn't sure if he had ever seen anyone as sexy.

"I'm glad to know I can count on you. Where did you get these tights anyway? I'm certain I've never seen you in them, because I would defiantly have remembered." Sasha asked, releasing her hand so he could pull the chair forward and sit down, slowly lifting one of her feet into his lap.

Emily gazed down at him as he examined the flat before removing it, skimming his fingers over the sole of her foot. She was about to pull away, knowing that her feet, much like her hands, were callused and rough, but Sasha just moved onto to other foot, giving it the same treatment.

"Well, you only ever see me in practice attire, so these could be old." Emily replied, trying to be cheeky. She jumped and moaned when Sasha nipped at her toes before working his fingers into the sole of her foot, which caused Emily to moan more. He smirked to himself as he continued.

"I…agh…um…the girls and I went shopping today. They decided that…ah mmm…that since I have the money now that I s…should get some more clothes. And I thought…oh god!" Emily's head fell back as Sasha started to move his hands up her leg, massaging as he went. She thought her body was going to burst into flames, especially since the cotton that encased her legs didn't stop the heat from his hands from searing her flesh.

"Continue Emily, I want to hear about your shopping trip." Sasha said, skimming his lips against the skin of her ankle, which was exposed. Emily gripped the desk, trying to regain her train of thought as Sasha continued up her leg, moving from her calf to her thigh.

"Um, I thought about you and what I'd want to…agh, what would make you…oh…um, would make you go crazy. But I also got things that are comfortable. Kaylie and Lauren helped me…uh…pick out some outfits. And I got the new phone, like you know. The…ah, the BlackBerry Torch. Um…we also went to Victoria's Secret." Emily's eyes opened when she felt Sasha jerk back. She watched him as he seemed to absorb what she'd said, a slow, sexy smirk appearing.

"You went underwear shopping?" Sasha asked, running his hands up her thighs and to her shirt. Emily smiled, knowing that he had not even thought about why she didn't have any panty lines.

"Yep, and I got all kinds of…clothes there." Emily said, clasping her hands over his and lifted her shirt over her head. She smiled at him, as Sasha stared at the form fitting tank top, disappointment on his face. She had to resist chuckling, instead she whipped the tank top above her head to join her shirt on the desk behind her.

Sasha's breath caught in his throat when her bra enclosed breasts were exposed. The bra was a rich purple silk with black lace extending from the black straps to the outside of the cups. Emily's breasts were small due to her sport, but the bra pushed them up and together until there was definite cleavage.

"How did I not notice this?" Sasha asked, more to him than to her. Emily smirked, trailing one of her hands down from her neck, over a breast, and down her stomach. She was still amazed that her body, which was extremely muscular, could excite him.

"You were too distracted with my butt. But you know, I bought this as a set." Emily said, looking up at him through her eyelashes. Sasha's eyes widened before they fell to her crotch, his eyebrow rising in contemplation.

"I think I'll have to inspect that claim to make sure you're telling the truth." Sasha said, grasping the waistband of her leggings and tugging down.

Emily felt her heart flutter and her stomach clench with arousal as she lifted her hips to allow him to remove the pants. He stopped midway, his eyes focused on the purple silk thong that protected her.

Emily cleared her throat, which made him finish pulling the cotton away and turning to put them on the shelf behind him. When Sasha turned back around, Emily was laid out on her elbows, her pose causing her chest to be thrust forward and her legs were still parted, giving her the image of a sacrifice, just waiting to be devoured.

"Yes, I can see you did buy the set. But I think we've had enough talk for tonight." Sasha murmured as he rose from the chair and bent over her body, bringing his lips down on hers.

Emily sighed into his mouth before allowing his seeking tongue entrance. She brought one of her arms around to encircle his neck, keeping the other one behind her for balance. The kiss was full of the passion that had to be restrained during daylight hours, quickly turning into an inferno that Emily thought would consume her.

Sasha cupped her face, keeping her in position as he devoured her. He had planned on them just having a quite night with a movie and dinner, but her outfit had been driving him mad all evening.

He released her mouth when his lungs began to scream for air, moving his lips down to her throat, where he sucked and nibbled on the tight skin. Emily moaned at his actions, running her hand through his hair.

Sasha abandoned her neck after a few minutes, conscious that he didn't want to leave any visible marks. He pulled back, ogling down at her bra again, enjoying the way her breasts rose and fell with her breathing.

Emily sat up, now that he wasn't leaning over her, and brought her hands around to her back, slowly unclasping the enclosing devise. She loved the way Sasha's eyes would become heated whenever she was exposed, as if he couldn't get enough of her.

Sasha watched as Emily removed her bra, admiring the way her tits swayed with her movements. He pushed against her shoulder, telling her without words that he wanted her to lay back against the desk.

Emily complied, grateful that she had let her shirt and tank top fall behind her, because they protected her from the cold of the metal surface. Her head gently landed on a stack of papers, but before she could move to change her position, Sasha had clamped his mouth down on her right nipple, causing the teen to arch her back and let out a moan.

His tongue swirled around the puckered flesh, enjoying the sounds that were emitting from Emily's throat. He switched to the other breast, bringing up his left hand to keep the other breast looked after.

He sucked the nipple into his mouth, lightly skimming his teeth against the outside of the areola, which caused Emily to twitch. He swapped breasts again, this time trailing his lips and tongue along the entire breast, paying special attention to the underside, which he knew was sensitive.

Emily squirmed against him, still unused to the feelings that were surging through her. In the last two weeks, the two had only had sex a couple of times, and each time she was still awed at the reactions Sasha was able to get from her body.

It was if the slightest touch from him was all it took to have electricity coursing from her groin to her nipples and the rest of her body. Emily felt herself getting wetter, knowing that he would soon be able to see her desire on her underwear. Silk was not the material to wear if one was going to get…wet.

Sasha finally moved his attention from her breasts, sliding down her toned stomach, delighting in the way her muscles bunched and twitched under his caresses. He peered up at her, but Emily's eyes were closed as she gripped the edge of the desk, obviously having difficulty in staying still. He lightly nipped her belly, with made her open her eyes and lift her head so she could peer at him. He smiled at her before lowering his head, nuzzling her quim.

"Ah" Emily moaned before her head fell back to the stack of papers. Sasha traced her lips with his fingertip, running it up and down, enjoying the way the damp material completely shaped to her.

He pinched the material together, drawing it away so that he could see her. Her lips glistened, even in the dim light, and Sasha bent forward, giving her a long swipe, from bottom to top, ending with a light pass on her clit. Emily's hips surged off the desk and he took the opportunity to remove the thong.

"You are so beautiful, Emily." Sasha whispered before lowering his face again, drinking her nectar.

Emily moaned and tried to raise her hips again, but he had an arm on her, stopping her attempts. Sasha used his other hand to spread her folds, so he could caress her inner lips, paying homage to the female body.

He released her hips so he could bring his other hand down, this one going to her opening, where he slowly swirled his finger around, collecting as much juice as he could on one of his digits before slowly sliding it into her tight channel.

"Sasha, please." Emily's voice was tight with want, and Sasha spared a minute to gaze at her face, which was also tight.

He slowly licked around her labia before finding her clit. But, instead of latching onto the bud, he lightly ran his tongue over it and around it, wanting to draw out her excitement. He was rewarded with a gush of liquid and a strangled moan. He removed his fingers, replacing them with his tongue, loving the taste of her. She was sweet and Sasha knew he could feast on her forever.

Sasha increased his pace, enjoying his banquet, but his pants were getting tighter and tighter and he wanted to get to the real meal. He rubbed his figures in a circular motion across her clit, before lightly pinching it.

This caused Emily to let out a shriek as she came, releasing her fluids into her coach's waiting mouth. Sasha continued to lick and suck at her, drawing out her orgasm until her legs were simply twitching.

Emily was attempting to catch her breath when she felt Sasha shift, standing from the chair and she heard the lowering of his zipper. She was able to get her arms under her, watching as he stepped out of his shoes and jeans.

Her mouth watered at the sight of his erect member, the engorged head glistening. Emily pushed herself further off the desk, sitting up completely as Sasha encircled his member with his hand, slowly pumping up and down. Emily moved off the desk, kneeling in front of the shocked man.

"Emily you do-" Sasha wasn't able to finish his thought as her warm mouth enclosed around his head.

When her slick, wet tongue began to lap at the sensitive flesh, Sasha couldn't help but to bunch his hands in her hair, guiding her movements. She gripped the remainder of his cock in her hands, bobbing her head as best she could. This was the first time she had ever done this, and she didn't knew exactly what she was supposed to do, only that she wanted to do to him what he had done to her.

Emily released the head with a 'pop', moving to lick the underside, paying attention to the vein that ran along the underside. She was rewarded with a groan and a surge of his hips, letting her know that she had done something right.

Emily peered up at Sasha, who was watching her, and she hummed when she wrapped her lips around his head, causing him to groan again. She moved one of her hands down from the shaft to his testicles, lightly tracing them before cupping one, seeming to weigh the ball. She continued to roll his boys around in her hand while she pumped the exposed part of his shaft with her other hand.

Sasha could tell she was inexperienced, but her enthusiasm was almost as undoing as her tongue's movements. He hated to cut this short, since he was sure she would continue until he finished, but he wanted the tight inferno between her legs to be gripping him when he came.

"Emily, if you don't stop I'm going to embarrass myself." Sasha said, hooking his hands under her arms and pulling her up. She pouted, wanting to have completed her task. Sasha smiled at her, lightly kissing her before pushing her back over to the desk. Emily smirked at him before turning her back to him, slowly bending over the desk.

Sasha's eyes widened at her pose. He had thought he was going to have to ease her into the idea of new positions and activities, but so far, the evening had showed Emily was more than willing to try new things.

He ran his hands down her smooth back, a part of her that was usually always covered so it didn't have the same wear as her hands and feet did. His fingers slide down her back to her ass, which was small, yet very appealing. Because of her muscular frame, the cheeks were high and toned, yet still smooth.

Sasha followed his fingers' path with his mouth, licking and nipping down her spine and across her cheeks. Emily sighed at the feel of his lips on her flesh, her inner muscles clenching with lust.

Her sigh turned into a moan when one of his hands made its way down to her pussy, sliding two fingers into her. She clenched those inner muscles that she had discovered, listening to Sasha's breath catch at the feel of her walls milking his fingers.

Sasha removed his digits, grasping his cock with his hand, sliding on the condom that was in his wallet, before lining it up with her entrance. Emily gripped the edge of the desk, trying not to knock over any files or pictures. She felt his head slowly push into her and she let a drawn out sigh, enjoying the way he stretched her as he continued to push forward.

Once Sasha was completely inside, he waited for a moment, to allow Emily to get comfortable. Then he slowly pulled out before thrusting forward, quickly building up a faster pace, until Emily had to grip the desk, not to keep her center, but to keep her from sliding forward. Yet she wasn't complaining, because every time he thrust forward he would hit a spot inside of her that made little stars appear in front of her eyes.

Sasha knew he should go slower, but he was so wound up that he wasn't certain he would even be able to go slow. After the feel of her soft lips wrapped around his head, he knew he wasn't going to be able to last all that long and he wanted Emily to orgasm before he did. With that in mind, he released on of her hips and reached under her to rub her clit.

"Uhg Sasha…I think I'm close…ah ah…mmmmmmmm…oh god…please…I need…OH!" Emily shrieked, her body bowing as she pulled Sasha's face forward so she could kiss him, ignoring the pain in her neck at her strange angle.

Sasha's tongue plundered her mouth as he continued to thrust his hips forward, using her new position to enclose her breasts in his hands, his fingertips tweaking her nipples.

Emily was shaking as her orgasm surged through her; it was one of the most powerful she'd had since their first night together. She released his face, instead clamping her hands on top of his as he continued to piston in and out of her. Her head was foggy as electric sparks seemed to be flying all over her body, but she felt as if her release was still building, even though she knew she'd just come.

Sasha felt his balls tighten and knew he was about to release. But he felt Emily's walls begin to flutter once more, and he wanted her to orgasm again. He moved one of his hands away from her breast and pinched her clit, which caused her muscles to clench him again and a new flood of liquid encase him as she moaned and shook, having reached that second orgasm in a matter of minutes.

Sasha thrust a couple more times before he reached his own release, slumping over Emily's panting body as he too tried to catch his breath. He kissed her shoulder as he lay on top of her, wondering if he would be able to move at all, let alone enough to where he wasn't crushing her. Yet Emily didn't make any noise of distress, so he concentrated on catching his breath.

_Meanwhile_

Payson watched as Kaylie browsed through her competition leos, trying to pick which one to wear to the Worlds tryouts, which were taking place the next morning. Payson tried to be an attentive audience, giving yays or nays to the presented leotards, but it was difficult because she was going to have to petition the National Committee the next day.

She knew that many people listened to Ellen Beals and that she didn't want another Rock girl on the team, but Payson knew that if her routines were perfect that there should be no reason to keep her off it. Well, as long as Sasha was right.

"Kaylie, they're all really beautiful. You'll look great in any of them." Payson said, hoping to speed up this process.

She knew that this was something Kaylie would have done with Lauren, but the girl had said she had to do something before coming over. Emily too said she had a family thing, but that she would be here later, since the girls had decided to continue the tradition of sleeping over at Kaylie's before important meets, so that they could reconnect as a team. With the two AWOL, Payson was left as the only one available for Kaylie to bounce outfit ideas off of.

"I know, I just want to look perfect. I don't want the National Committee to see anything wrong with me, not even my leotard. You know that after the last practice, they were disappointed that the two girls that can't compete for spots were not one of us (This is that practice where they chose the 10 to go on, didn't include in actual story)." Kaylie said, going back and forth between a deep purple one and a black and pink one.

"Why don't you wait to see what the others are wearing so you don't have the same colors?" Payson said, flipping through a magazine.

"Of course! Good thinking Pay, thanks. Hey why don't we get something to eat and watch some TV?" Kaylie asked, leaving her closet. Payson nodded, following her friend out of her room and towards the kitchen.

_One Hour Later_

The four girls were finally all together, situated around Kaylie's den in a circle, well more like a square. They had a bowl of popcorn between them and were sharing an honesty circle.

After the one they had before Nationals, they had decided that before each important meet, they would all hang together and come clean, so that they had nothing holding them back in the meet.

'_Except you can't be honest because you're in a relationship with your coach. And you just lied to them about having a family thing when you were bent over said coach's desk.' _Emily felt her cheeks burn when the visual filled her mind. She shook her head and turned back to her teammates.

"So I got to Summer's and my plan to get her to come back to the Rock just blew up. She told me…she told me that my mom has been trying to contact me for two years. _Two years!_ My dad has kept her from me for two years!" Lauren said, her eyes filling with tears. Kaylie scooted closer to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"I'm so sorry, Lo." Kaylie said, squeezing her friend, trying to give as much support as she could.

"I'm not saying it excuses it, but I'm sure you dad thought he was protecting you." Payson murmured.

"I know, but I still feel so betrayed. I mean, it's always been my dad and me against the world. But he kept someone who loves me, someone I've been missing for most of my life, away from me. I don't know if I'll ever be able to forgive him." Lauren said, her tears finally breaking free and silently streaming down her cheeks.

"I know I don't know what you're feeling, but I've often felt betrayed and let down by my mother. I've had to have a job for…god, since I was eight to help support my family. I mean, at first it was only mowing lawns and washing cars, but I've been working for so long that I've ended up being the main source of income for my family.

"I resented…no I still resent my mother because she hasn't been able to take care of Brian and me the way a mother is supposed to. So I know it's not the same thing, but I understand betrayal and the hurt that fills your heart to the point that you think you'll drown from it.

"I don't know if you'll ever get over it, but just try to remember that he has been looking out for you since you were born, and maybe keeping your mom away from you was the best way to keep you from having to go through the pain again if she relapsed. I don't know, but just try and see it from his perspective. I know my mom loves me and Brian with all her heart and she tries, so I just have to curb my own resentments because I know she tries her best."

The three girls look at Emily, surprised she had shared so much about herself in one go. Usually getting Emily to open up was next to impossible. Lauren wiped her eyes and nodded before taking a deep breath and squared her shoulders.

"Thank you, Emily. And I actually wanted to speak with you personally. Summer also pointed out my…attitude problem and the way I treat others. I'm sorry about the way I've acted towards you since you arrived. I just felt like you were going to take my life from me, which I realize is ridiculous, but that is how I felt. You were flipping across the gym with so much power and I could see the thrill on your face and I felt threatened. But that's no excuse for my behavior.

"I know I haven't said it before, but I'm sorry I messed with the numbers for the springboard for vault. I didn't really care if you got injured because you were in my way and I felt…entitled to be in the top three. I'm really sorry; I know you could have gotten seriously hurt." Lauren said, gazing seriously at Emily, who had a surprised look on her face.

"Thank you, Lauren. I know we're not the best of friends, but it means a lot that you would own up to that. I know how hard it is to admit to making a mistake. How about we restart our relationship with a clean slate? So nothing that has happened before matters and we just got forward?"

"That sounds like a great idea. I'm going to try and work on my attitude because I realized tonight, somewhat unwillingly, that people are always leaving me because of my bitchyness. And I really want to have all of you for friends, real friends." Lauren said, look at the other girls.

"I'm glad that you guys have worked everything out. It's so important for us to support each other. We're a team and with that comes a connection that, well, really makes us like sisters." Payson said. Emily smiled, grabbing Lauren's and Kaylie's hands.

"I'm so thankful that you guys are my friends. I haven't ever really had friends and now I have three. I…I'm happy to know that there are people who have my back, and in turn, I will have each of yours."

"The quartette is going to dominate tomorrow morning. We're going to show the National Committee that we all deserve to go to Worlds!" Lauren exclaimed, taking Kaylie's hand in her other one, and Kaylie in turn grasped Payson's.

"We can do this, guys. Payson, we will be supporting you the entire time. I have no doubt that they will put you on the team. And Emily, Lauren, we are going to blow their socks off." Kaylie asserted, raising the hands that were grasped in hers. The girls mimicked her before bursting into laughter, spending the rest of the night sharing stories and giggles.

PS: Please review!


	12. Chapter 12

**AN: Wow, so I'm sure everyone thought I was dead or something. I just kinda forgot about this story, getting wrapped up in other things. But Neil Jackson's recent video, "Holding a Candle", was just Emily/Sasha galore! How can anyone not expect us to see that as Emily and Sasha? I mean, come on! So I've gone back and edited all the old chapters, trying to get all the spelling errors and things worked out.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything.**

Emily groaned when it was announced Ellen Beals was going to be taking Marty's place as coach for the trials, as the man was apparently unable to attend. What was up with that? How could you miss one of the most important days in your gymnasts' lives? She just knew that the she-devil of a woman would try to make things as difficult for the Rock girls as she possible could, which did nothing for her nerves.

"C'mere, girls." Sasha said as he pulled the four gymnasts away from the large group waiting in the Colorado Springs Civic Center's front room.

"Payson, you'll be tested at the same time as the others. Now, be warned, Beals is going to make this as hard as possible for all of you. But remember, she doesn't control the voting; she doesn't actually have a vote, since she's acting as the coach. So just ignore her and whatever she says, alright?" The girls gave nervous nods, all their stomachs in knots.

Kaylie was afraid she wouldn't be number one, as both Emily and Lauren had improved since the last meet. She wanted to go to Worlds as the number one in the country and the knowledge that one of her own club mates might beat her was unnerving.

Lauren was sad her mother couldn't get there before the tryouts and was still furious with her father for keeping the two apart for so long. She really just wanted her mom there to root her on, to see the woman she'd grown into; and with that wish denied, Lauren was worried she'd be off her game.

Payson was anxious, knowing this was her one shot at going to Worlds. She was glad she'd waited to petition the NGO until Sasha said she was ready, but the blonde was still a bundle of nerves. She could only hope that she impressed the judges enough, with having recovered from a broken back and all, that they'd allow her to go to Worlds.

Emily hated that Beals was trying to be the coach, trying to take Sasha's place. But she wouldn't let the vile excuse for a woman get in her head. She'd trained hard for this and she wasn't going to let her family, club, or herself down by giving a poor tryout. Ellen Beals could kiss her ass for all Emily cared.

"Remember, you're a team. You're the 'Rock Rebels', right? You need to support each other and be there for one another, as I won't be able to be there. It's very important that you remember this is a _team_ sport; that you compete at your best when you're together."

Sasha hated that he was being denied access to his gymnasts, but Ellen Beals and the NGO were spiteful and still didn't approve of him or his girls. He could only pray that they didn't let their nerves get the best of them.

Before they could say anything more, Beals pushed the doors open to the room designated for the trials. She signaled the gymnasts were to follow her, and Sasha quickly pulled each girl into a tight hug and gave them last minute encouragements.

Emily glanced back at him, her eyes large with fear, but an underling determination could be seen. He gave her a small nod and smile, trying to convey what he couldn't in front of others. That he believed in her and knew she'd blow this out of the water. Emily smiled back at him before following her teammates, her arm linking with Payson's as the doors shut behind them.

Sighing in irritation, Sasha walked over to the TV viewing area, hating he was regulated to being a mere spectator. But hopefully his words would stick with his girls and they'd show the National Committee just who the best gymnasts in the US were.

"Today will test what you're made of. You'll perform one at a time, without the support of adoring parents or teammates cheering from the sidelines. I want complete silence during these trials. After two rounds, the six best will represent the US at Worlds. The rest will be left behind. The strong survive, and the weak…do not." Ellen cut her eyes at the Rock girls, clearly showing who she thought were weak.

"Time." The spokesperson for the NGO announced through his microphone.

"Here we go. Good luck." Ellen said with a slight nod, signaling the girls should move to the sidelines to await their turn.

"Remember what Sasha said. We're in this together, a team, no matter what." Payson whispered, gripping Lauren's and Emily's hands. Lauren gripped Kaylie's hand, as did Emily, completing the hand circle. Their grips tightened as they each nodded and centered themselves, before releasing each hand.

It didn't matter if they couldn't vocalize their cheers; they knew their friends and teammates were there, supporting them.

"First up, Miss Emily Kmetko. Beam." Taking a deep breath and returning their smiles, Emily stepped away from her teammates and headed towards the beam. She was grateful Ellen Beals didn't try to give her a pep talk, as the teen wasn't sure if she'd be able to withstand the urge to hit the woman. No one could take Sasha's place, either as her coach or her boyfriend, and the gymnasts refused to let anyone even try.

"It's time to announce the six girls on the United States Worlds Team. These are the girls who will go on to compete in Paris at the end of the year." Emily held tightly to Payson's and Lauren's hands, the four girls huddled together next to their families and Sasha, who had his hands planted on her shoulders. This was it, this was the moment when their prayers were answered or they were left with dashed dreams.

"In first position, Kaylie Cruz of the Rocky Mountain Gymnastics Training Center." They all hugged the brunette, glad (if not surprised) she'd made it to the top spot. Kaylie beamed as she slid into her new Nationals jacket and stepped up onto the podium, breathing a sigh of relief.

"In second position, from Boston, Andrea Conway." Emily bit her lip, desperate for her own name to be called. Sasha tightened his grip on her shoulders, trying to silently reassure her without drawing unwanted attention.

"The third place on this year's Worlds team goes to Emily Kmetko of the Rocky Mountain Gymnastics Training Center." Emily had to clutch at Payson, as she was afraid her knees would give out before she got a handle on herself. She threw her arms around the blonde girl, quickly pulling Lauren into a hug before dashing over to claim her own jacket.

Smiling in utter delight, Emily stepped up onto the podium and returned Kaylie's hug before turning to look out at the gathered group. Sasha sent her a proud expression and a nod before moving to speak quietly with the last two Rock girls. She clutched at her jacket, not believing she'd actually made the Worlds team, and in third place! Life was definitely good for one Emily Kmetko.

"In fourth position, also from Boulder, Lauren Tanner." The blonde let out a whoop as she hugged those around her, forgetting her anger towards her dad in her moment of exhilaration. She beamed at her other two teammates as she joined them, a little sad she hadn't been in the top three, but happy none the less.

"The fifth spot on the US Worlds Team goes to Beth Atchinson from Seattle. The sixth and final spot from the US National Team competing at Worlds, by special vote, Miss Payson Keeler." The three Rock girls already in place cheered for their last club mate, as Payson hugged her parents and Sasha before tearfully claiming her jacket. Emily pulled her into a tight hug from her place as the announcer finished his speech.

"I present to you, the United States Worlds Team." He began clapping, the camera, which would broadcast the tryouts and results later that day on the news, turned to take in the six beaming gymnasts.

Emily gave a little laugh before she pulled Kaylie and Payson away from the podium, Lauren being dragged along by Kaylie, and immersed themselves back into the gathered group.

Before Sasha could get his barrings, all four girls were on him, almost knocking their coach over in their zeal. The parents just laughed as the girls spoke over each other excitedly, all thanking the man for believing in them and supporting them.

"Alright, alright, let the poor man breathe." Ronnie Cruz said with a laugh, pulling on Kaylie. Too elated to be embarrassed, the gymnasts parted from their coach, but not before Emily managed to get in one more discreet squeeze.

"I'm very proud of all of you. I knew you could do it." Sasha said after clearing his throat, earning amused looks from the parents.

"This calls for celebration! All the Rock girls made the Worlds Team! We'll have a celebratory party tonight at my house." Ronnie said, head already abuzz with party planning. Kaylie rolled her eyes at her mom, but let her go, knowing there was no stopping Ronnie Cruz from planning a party.

"That's a great idea, Ronnie. Maybe we could…" Emily tuned her mother out, turning to her friends instead.

She really wanted to leap into Sasha's arms and celebrate together, but she knew that would have to wait until they could be alone. She saw him give her a look, which the girl took as he shared her desires and pains about being separated. Sometimes it really sucked dating one's coach.

"So, while my mom's off in party land, maybe we could go out together. Go have lunch or something?" Kaylie asked with a shrug, really not wanting to be pulled into the middle of her mom's plans.

"Yeah, let's go to _La Privilage_. My dad's paying." Lauren said with a little mischievous grin.

"Does your dad _know_ he's paying?" Payson asked, always the voice of reason. She didn't like handouts, and knew that unless Mr. Tanner did pay, there was no way she could actually go.

"Duh dummy, he'll do anything I ask because he feels guilty." Lauren rolled her eyes and flipped her head before sauntering over to her dad. The others watched as she spoke to him for a moment before skipping back to them, gold card in hand.

"Well, it's settled then. Let's go home and change and meet up at _La Privilage _in an hour." Kaylie said with a smile as they others nodded their accord. The group quickly separated, pulling their parents away as well so they could get driven home.

Emily and Sasha shared one more look before she left, anticipation for when they could finally be together filling her belly. Not only had she made the Worlds Team, but she also had a hunk of a boyfriend that couldn't wait to ravish her when the moment arose. Life was good.

The lunch and party were both fun, or at least as much fun as Emily was able to have when she was constantly teased by Sasha's presence without being able to touch him.

Thankfully, her mother had no worries and stayed away from the alcohol; although, things were decidedly tense whenever Ronnie or Alex were in the room together, which made the girls spend most of their time either outside or in Kaylie's room.

Emily was headed towards the kitchen to refill her drink when she bumped into Leo Cruz, who she hadn't seen since the invitational against China.

"Emily! Hey, um…I was hoping to catch you. I need to explain." Leo said, scratching at his neck.

"Hey Leo. It's alright…I understand why you kept the note a secret. You were right, I needed to keep my head focused." Emily said with a small smile, trying to let him know she didn't hold it against him.

"Oh…uh, good. I'm sorry, though, that you missed Damon at the radio station."

"Don't be, it was for the best. Damon was a…distraction from my goals, from winning gold. I actually owe you a thank you, I think, as I doubt I'd be on the Worlds Team if you hadn't intervened." Leo looked shocked, especially when Emily gave him a small hug.

"Uh…you're welcome, I guess. So you and him are…"

"Not together." Emily filled in with a shake of her head. At Leo's interested expression, Emily held up her hands with a light smile.

"I'm done with boys. At least until I win gold at the Olympics. I can't let myself get too distracted anymore." He looked bummed, but Emily wasn't going to reveal she was actually in another relationship. But Sasha was anything but a boy; he was a man, one that pushed her hard towards her dreams than she ever could on her own.

"Oh, okay. Well it was good to see you." Emily waved goodbye to him before continuing on her trek to the kitchen, relieved that was out of the way. Now as long as she didn't run into Damon or Razor ever again, she'd been good.

The girl was suddenly pulled out of her thoughts by a strong arm wrapping around her middle and a hand clamping over her mouth. Eyes wide, Emily almost started freaking out until the scent of Sasha filled her nose and calmed her down; which allowed the older man to pull her into a room for some privacy.

"You scared the hell out of me!" Emily whispered angrily once he released her to flick on the overhead light.

"Do I have to remind you of the no dating rule?" Sasha's voice was hard and edgy, obviously angry about something, something Emily had no clue what it was.

"What are you talking about, Sasha? I'm dating _you_." She rolled her eyes, wondering if he'd gotten into the liquor cabinet. But besides the occasional beer, she'd never actually seen him drink much.

"Are you sure, as the Cruz boy seemed to think otherwise." OMG, Sasha was jealous! Biting her lip to keep herself from giggling like a little girl, Emily wrapped her arms around his neck and stared up at him.

"Are you jealous?" That earned her a glare, even though he couldn't stop himself from gripping her hips, keeping her flush against him.

"I'm too old to get jealous." Emily arched a brow at him, clearly not believing a word he said. This had the result of the grown man rolling _his_ eyes and silently cursing under his breath, which made Emily want to laugh even more.

"Aw, I think it's cute." Emily said with a smile, making Sasha scowl at her choice of words.

"Cute?" He growled, pushing her back until she bumped a table. Looking down, Emily finally noticed that they were in the laundry room and she'd hit a folding table. Glancing back up at him, Emily's lady parts began to flutter, the look on Sasha's face sending arousal coursing through her system.

"Cute may have been a bad choice of adjective." Emily mumbled, worried he might spank her again. Not that she hadn't, you know, enjoyed it; but she didn't really want to experience it so soon.

Sasha stepped back from her, turning to flip the lock on the door before approaching her, picking Emily up and depositing her on the table. She wrapped her legs around his waist when he nestled himself between said legs, bringing him flush once more. Tipping her head back, Sasha devoured her mouth wanting to remind her just who he was and that he wasn't 'cute'.

"Where have you been? The party's wrapping up and your mom's been looking for you." Payson said when she bumped into Emily in the hallway. The brunette's face was strange, her lips red and swollen looking with glassy eyes that didn't seem to see. The other girl worried for a moment that she may have had an allergic reaction to something or other, but Emily just gave a dazed smile and started away.

Shaking her head at her strange friend, Payson continued on her journey to find her mother and sister. She was desperate to get back home, to have a moment to herself to relish in the fact that she, Payson Keeler, broken back victim, was going to Worlds and was one step closer to the 2012 Olympics.

The rest of the night was spent with her family, watching movies and pigging out on ice cream. Brian made them watch some SCI-FI flick, which Emily retaliated and made him sit through an action flick that had a lot of blood and gore. Chloe just sat happily on the couch, amazed at the way her children were growing and maturing.

Not even six months ago, they were living hand to mouth, and now, Emily was earning enough money in sponsorships that they actually could have ice cream in their freezer. She still felt like she wasn't doing her job as mother, but Chloe was so thankful for having a daughter who wanted to help her family. She shuddered to think what life would be like if Emily had turned out like Lauren. That's the stuff of nightmares.

Things were looking up for the Kmetko family, and Chloe couldn't wait until Emily brought home a gold medal, to show the world just what she was made of. Just what Kmetkos were made of. Because they were the Mighty Mighty Kmetkos, and the world better look out.

**AN: So reviews? Yes, great idea! **


	13. Chapter 13

Thank you tanya2byour21, RebornRose1992, and DarkMoon2222 for your reviews. Hope you like this chapter. I don't own anything.

"So, I like your new digs." Emily said, spinning around the empty entrance hall of the brick home Sasha had rented.

It was two stories, with two bedrooms on the second floor, the main floor housing the usual rooms (living room, kitchen, and dining room), a basement and a wraparound deck that led out to a lake shared by the few surrounding houses.

"My things should be here within the week. All that's left to do is clean it up and paint." Sasha said, wrapping and arm around her waist and pulling her back against him. Emily leaned into his chest, loving the feeling of being in his arms.

"I can help you paint, if you want." Sasha made a noise of agreement into her hair before pulling away.

"I'll take all the help I can get. I want the house painted and aired out before the furniture gets here. We can get started." Emily turned to look at him quickly, eyes widening when she saw him heading towards the kitchen.

"Wait, you want to start _now_?" She asked, hurrying after him. She got her answer when she saw the paint cans already lining the countertops, paintbrushes and pans just waiting to be used.

"No time like the present." Sasha said over his shoulder, pulling his jacket off.

Emily rolled her eyes, knowing she'd have to come up with some believable story if she showed up at home covered in paint. But, it was more time she got to spend with Sasha, and it wasn't like her mother ever actually noticed she was missing (not with her new boyfriend taking up her time).

"Fine, but you're buying me dinner." Sasha sent a smirk her way, amused by her behavior as he got a pan ready.

Emily shrugged out of her own coat, and shirt, leaving her in her tank top and pants, as she didn't want to ruin too many clothes. Debating with herself, Emily finally wiggled out of her jeans as well, not wanting to get pain on the new pants. After all, if she got paint on herself now, at least she'd be able to cover it up.

Sasha almost dropped the paint can when he saw Emily standing there in a tank top and her panties, having not expected that at all. His eyes dated down to her toned legs, appreciating their definition before he met her bemused gaze.

"Are we gonna get started or what?" Shaking his head, Sasha motioned for her to grab a roller and follow him into the living room. It was definitely going to be a long night.

"What in the world happened to you?" Brian exclaimed when Emily trudged through the apartment door, face, hair and hands covered in paint. The girl shrugged as she pulled off her coat.

"Kaylie wanted to repaint her room. It got a little messy." Emily lied, pulling her pjs from her make shift closet and heading towards the bathroom.

"Where's mom?" Emily asked as she passed her brother.

"Out with Steve." Emily and Brian shared an eye roll, knowing Chloe probably wouldn't make it home that night. It was crazy, in Emily's opinion, as she'd painted several rooms, eaten dinner, and had wild sex with her equally paint covered man.

How Chloe couldn't make it home before sunrise when all she did was have sex was amazing to the teen. But to each their own; especially as it kept her mom out of her business. Emily would take any distraction to keep Chloe from ever finding out her sixteen year old daughter was in a relationship with her much older coach.

Shaking her head to clear it of such thoughts, Emily closed the bathroom door behind her before stripping. She had to hope the paint would come off with some rigorous scrubbing, as she didn't want to have to explain why she had paint all over her at the gym. That would definitely be an awkward conversation, especially if Sasha wasn't able to get all the paint off himself either. Talk about being obvious.

Turning the shower on hot, Emily waited for the water to warm before stepping into the spray. She had to spend an ungodly amount of time under the water, which soon turned cold, but the gymnast was thankfully able to get most of the paint off.

Satisfied her secret wasn't about to be blown, Emily pulled on her pjs and combed out her hair before heading to bed, exhausted from her day spent being 'coupley' with Sasha.

"How are things going with your mom?" Kaylie asked as the Rock girls began stretching out by one of the beams.

"Great, actually. She's staying at a hotel for now, but I'm making daddy pay for it. But I think we might actually be able to work things out." Lauren said, giving one of the only honest smiles Emily had ever seen on the blonde's face.

It was clear that the other girl had desperately missed having a mother, and now that she actually had one, she wasn't as bitter or angry as normal. Which _everyone _was thankful for.

"And with your dad?" Emily asked, pulling her leg up to her shoulder to stretch the muscles out. Sasha was still having them do the two hours of conditioning a day, and no one wanted to wind up injured for not warming up enough before he called them to start.

He was right, however, as it was getting a lot easier and their gymnastics were getting sharper, sticking their landings more often now that they weren't slacking in taking care of their bodies.

They were the gymnasts' most important possession, so it made sense that they should actually take care of them. Emily was surprised they actually hadn't learned the lesson after Payson's injury.

"He's still groveling, but I'm not ready to forgive him yet. I'm not…I just need a little more time, I think. I mean, he's kept my mother from me for _years_. It's just a lot to forgive." Lauren said a little sadly, actually missing her father. They'd been all each other had had for so long that it was difficult to remain angry with him, but she'd needed her mother long before now.

"Just be careful, Lo. You don't want to lose him by being too…stubborn." Kaylie said, mind flashing to her own father and the anger he'd had that she'd kept her mother's affair a secret. Thankfully, Alex still loved his daughter dearly and made it clear she wasn't to blame, but the girl couldn't help but feel responsible.

"I won't." Lauren replied, gripping Kaylie's hand for a moment before sauntering off to the chalk box, both to chalk up and to flirt with one of the male gymnasts.

"So are you ready for the Dallas meet?" Emily asked the two girls, eyes glancing away to watch as Sasha moved about the floor, speaking with the assistant coaches.

"I am. I'm going to use it to show I belong on the Worlds Team, even if the invitational against Dallas is just the Rock team." Payson said fiercely, determined to show she had earned her spot fair and square.

There'd been talk after the tryouts that the judges had simply felt sorry for her and wanted to let her try to live her dream, and Payson would stop at nothing until she proved herself.

"Yeah, me too. I want everyone to see we're the best there is and that they should be worried. And since Dallas is the best in the country, beating them will do just that." Kaylie responded, sharing a smile with the other two before she moved away from the beam to chat with Lauren before their conditioning started.

"Pay, what's wrong?" Emily asked, having noticed the downtrodden appearance of her friend, despite her passionate response.

"Nothing. I'm fine." Payson shrugged, turning to leave. Emily's hand kept her in place and Payson sighed before turning back to her friend, wondering when she'd gotten so close with the other gymnast.

"Pay, you can tell me. I mean, you don't have to, of course. But, if you need to talk about something, than I'm here to listen." Emily gave a reassuring smile, hoping Payson knew she'd be there for her.

It was still new to her, having friends, but Emily was beginning to really enjoy having people to confide in (well, except about Sasha) and wanted them to know they could also rely on her in return.

"It's just…the money my mom won at that bingo night has barely scratched the surface of the debt. I just wish there was some way I could help them, you know?" Payson said sadly, glaring down at the wooden apparatus. Emily pulled her into a quick hug.

"I understand. You know I do. Things will turn out alright, I'm sure of it. Once we win gold at Worlds, you'll have to beat the sponsorships off with a stick, there'll be so many."

"My parents won't let me take any sponsorship, even if one did come up. They don't want me to be ineligible for scholarships in college or something." Payson shrugged.

"Pay, if we can get you one that pays off your parent's debt and leaves enough money for college, I'm sure they wouldn't say no. I mean, I'm not really sure how many scholarships there are for homeschooled kids anyways; I'm sure we can find a good endorsement if we just look hard enough." Emily hugged her again, determined to help Payson in some way.

"Here's to hoping." The blonde sighed before letting go and stepping towards the designated spot for their first round of conditioning. Emily watched her go, her mind racing with trying to come up with possible solutions.

But until Payson showed the world she was someone worth betting on, there wasn't much she could do with regards to finding people willing to sponsor her. Hopefully Payson would shine in all the upcoming meets, and she could get Sasha to find her sponsorships like he did for her.

Hearing the chiming over the intercom, signaling everyone should be in their groups, Emily quickly joined Payson. She couldn't solve her friend's issues right now, so she made herself focus on the task at hand: getting through her conditioning so she could get to the real practice. They had the Dallas invitational, the Denver showcase and the Rio meet all before Worlds, after all.

Emily let out a groan when she pulled out all the homework she'd been neglecting. She was a world class gymnast, why did she have to also be in homeschooling? It totally wasn't fair. Sighing in resignation, Emily dumped the books and papers on the dining room table to get started.

She had frequently thought about trying to get her GED, but her mom had always said a high school diploma was more highly regarded, especially if she wanted to go to college. But Emily didn't really think she was a college girl, as she couldn't stand homework as it was and hadn't enjoyed school when she'd attended it.

Hopefully, she could get through all the work required before Worlds, so she wouldn't have anything else to worry about. That way she could spend more time with Sasha, as their present time together was clearly going to be shortened as Worlds got closer and closer.

At least he'd finally gotten a house so she could start visiting him there as soon as he moved in, which would be after his belongings arrived. Trying to stay positive, Emily opened her math book, hoping her previous tutoring with Razor would pay off.

"I want you to begin adding another ½ twist to your vault for Worlds." Sasha said after Emily had finished her double yurchenko. Breathing heavily, Emily walked over to where he was standing next to the vault with a furrowed brow.

"Another ½ twist?" She wasn't sure she'd actually be able to pull that off, as it was an extremely difficult trick. Not many people could do a 2 and ½ yurchenko, and even fewer could do a triple.

"Yes, another ½ twist. I don't want you to do it for Rio or the upcoming Dallas meet, but I definitely want you doing it at Worlds. No one will be expecting it, and I fully believe you could take home gold on vault."

Emily bit her lip as she stared at him, overwhelmed with the belief he had in her. But it made her want to make him proud, to make herself proud. Giving a little nod, Emily moved over to the runway.

"Alright, I'll try." Sasha gave her a look as if to say 'Don't try. Do.'

Her lips twitched before she focused on the vault, taking a steadying breath before beginning to run. Sasha watched as she spun in the air, landing with a thud on her back. She groaned before getting back to her feet, irritated with herself.

"It'll take time, Kmetko. Keep training." Sasha said before moving off to work with Payson. He knew it was wrong of him, as the head coach, but he was admittedly paying more attention to the 'Rock girls'.

It was just that they were on the Worlds Team, and he wanted to make sure they were fully prepared. None of the males had made the men's team, so he didn't feel too guilty about it, knowing the assistant coaches could handle things.

"Sasha, phone." Kim called out from the office door. Sighing, he detoured from heading to the beam to the office, taking the stairs two at a time. Kim smiled at him before she retook her own seat, getting everything sorted out for the impending Dallas meet.

"This is Sasha Belov." Sasha said into the receiver, leaning against the desk as the person began speaking, causing the usually reserved man's eyes to widen the longer the caller spoke. He certainly hadn't imagined this when he'd come to answer a phone call, that was for sure.

"What's going on?" Emily wondered out loud as her and Payson reentered the gym after lunch, only to be met with the sight of a camera crew and several National Committee members. Giving each other confused looks, they hurried over to Kim Keeler, who was standing off to the side with a wide smile on her face.

"Mom, what's happening? Why're all these people here?" Payson asked, watching as Sasha spoke with a man she'd never seen before.

"It's a surprise." Kim said, not going to ruin it, wanting to see the look on the girls' faces when the announcement was made.

Payson rolled her eyes, hating when her mom was like this. Before she could try and pester her mom for an answer, the gym went silent as the unknown man stepped up to the podium in front of the camera.

"Due to an unfortunate accident, Marty Walsh is no longer able to coach the US National Team. This unforeseen occurrence has also dropped Mr. Walsh from being able to take up the same role for the Worlds Team. For this reason, the National Gymnastics Organization has had to find a replacement coach that will make the US proud at Worlds." The man spoke into the microphone, even though there really was no need, as no one said a word.

"Oh, I hope Marty's alright." Payson said. She might not like that he'd abandoned them because of his affair with Mrs. Cruz, but she didn't wish him harm either. Emily gave a nod, her attention solely focused on Sasha, who'd been pulled up next to the man.

"After careful deliberation, we have come to a consensus to have Sasha Belov be the coach of the Worlds Team. As the coach of 4 of the 6 girls competing, he was the natural choice and we believe him to be our best chance at bringing home gold." The man said, shaking Sasha's hand before stepping back.

Emily shared a shocked look with Payson before the two began moving closer to the podium, meeting up with Kaylie and Lauren on the way there.

"I appreciate the opportunity the National Gymnastics Organization has granted me. I am sure we will make the nation proud and return from Worlds with gold. Thank you." Sasha mumbled before stepping away, uncomfortable with all the press. Even as an Olympian, the press really hadn't been his cup of tea.

The cameraman began to shut his device off, but before he could, four girls rushed the new coach and threw themselves at him. Knowing his boss would kill him if he missed any juicy moments, the man kept the camera rolling as Sasha Belov tried to untangle himself from his overjoyed gymnasts.

"I can't believe you didn't tell me they made you the Worlds Team coach!" Emily reprimanded as Sasha set up the PS3 to play Guitar Hero.

"I'd only found out right before lunch. It's not like I had that much time to process." Sasha replied from behind the television.

"Hmm." Emily stretched out on the couch, appreciating the view of Sasha bent over and to the side. Why he didn't mount the flat screen on the wall, she didn't know.

"Get over it, Kmetko. Now do you see the loading screen?" Sasha poked his head back out, seeing her nod before he stood and placed the tv back in position. Picking up one of the guitars, Sasha walked over to the couch and pulled Emily's legs up before sitting underneath them, laying the limbs back down in his lap.

Emily was surprised she actually enjoyed watching him play the game, knowing that if she even tried she'd get a headache. But watching Sasha's hands flash up and down the plastic controller and curse or sing along with the music was very entertaining and a little hypnotizing.

Which made it almost inevitable that the game lay forgotten as Emily crawled into Sasha's lap and claimed his lips with her own.

The day of the Dallas invitational arrived cold and bitter, the threat of rain a constant companion. But the Rock girls refused to let the weather dampen their spirits, as it was too important to do well today.

If they failed to beat Dallas, the Rock wouldn't be taken as seriously and the NGO might actually rethink having Sasha as the Worlds team coach. So everything was riding on today.

With that in mind, Emily slipped her Rock jacket off and stepped out of her pants before joining the girls on the mats to stretch. The Dallas team would be showing up soon and the Rock was quickly filling up with gymnasts and families, all there to root their club mates on.

Thankfully, the meet was nothing like the one against Denver, so long ago. Lauren didn't intentionally scratch and Emily didn't try a too advanced trick. They made Sasha proud, beating out Dallas by several points and the Rock girls earning 7 medals to Dallas's 5.

To say the world was now paying attention to the Rock would be an understatement. The club was now seen as the best in the country, producing many of the best gymnasts in the world. The Rocky Mountain Gymnastic Training Center was definitely the place one wanted to be if they had aspirations of going to the 2012 Summer Olympics.

**AN: Please review! Thanks!**


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